ta 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


VWV^-V 


CAROLINA  LEE 


AROLINA 

LEE  » i*  *• 


By 
LILIAN  ,BELL 

Author    of   "Hope    Loring,"    "Abroad 

with  the  Jimmies,"  "At  Home  with  the 

Jardines,"  etc. 

With  a  frontispiece  in  colour  by 
DORA    WHEELER    KEITH 


NW  YORK 

A.    WESSELS   COMPANY 
1907 


Copyright,  1906 
BY  L.  C.  PACK  &  COMPANY 

(INCORPORATED) 
All  rights  reserved 


I   DEDICATE  THIS   BOOK 
TO    MY    FRIEND 

&IIa  33errp 

AS   AV    AFFECTIONATE    RECOGNITION 

OF  THE   EVIDENCES   OF   HER   BEAUTIFUL  WORK 

AND   LOVE   FOR   ME  AND   MINK 


1563001 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I.  CAPTAIN  WINCHESTER  LEE  . 

II.  THE  FIRST  GRIEF  .... 

III.  THE  DANGER  OF  WISHING   . 

IV.  THE  TURN  OF  THE  WHEEL  . 

V.  BROTHER  AND  SISTER   .        .        . 

VI.  THE  STRANGER      .... 

VII.  MORTAL  MIND       .... 

VIII.  MAN'S  EXTREMITY 

IX.  THE  TRIAL  OF  FAITH  . 

X.  CROSS  PURPOSES    .... 

XI.  IN  WHICH  TRUTH  HOLDS  HER  OWN 

XII.  WHITEHALL 

XIII.  GUILDFORD 

XIV.  KlNFOLK 

XV.  THE  BLIND  BABY  .... 

XVI.  A  LETTER  FROM  CAROLINA 

XVII.  IN  THE  BARNWELLS'  CARRYALL  . 

XVIII.  A  LETTER  FROM  KATE  . 

XIX.  THE  FEAR 

XX.  MOULTRIE 

XXI.  THE  LIGHT  BREAKS 

XXII.  IN  THE  VOODOO'S  CAVE 

XXIII.  LOOSE  THREADS    .... 

XXIV.  THE  HOUSE -PARTY  ARRIVES 

XXV.  BOB  FITZHUGH      .... 


FAGS 
I 

21 
32 
40 

So 
59 
73 
84 
105 

137 

151 
164 

iBS 
206 
224 
242 
252 
269 
281 
289 
296 
3°3 
31° 
320 

336 


CAROLINA   LEE 


CHAPTER   I. 

CAPTAIN  WINCHESTER  LEE 

HAVING  been  born  in  Paris,  Carolina  tried  to 
make  the  best  of  it,  but  being  a  very  ardent  little 
American  girl,  she  always  felt  that  her  foreign  birth 
was  something  which  must  be  lived  down,  so  when 
people  asked  her  where  she  was  born,  her  reply  was 
likely  to  be : 

"  Well,  I  was  born  in  Paris,  but  I  am  named  for 
an  American  State !  " 

Then  if,  in  a  bantering  manner,  her  interlocutor 
said: 

"Then,  are  you  a  Southerner,  Carolina?"  the 
child  always  replied : 

"  My  father  says  we  are  Americans  first  and 
Southerners  second !  " 

Colonel  Yancey,  himself  from  Savannah,  upon 
hearing  Carolina  make  this  reply  commented  upon 
it  with  unusual  breadth  of  mind  for  a  Southern 
man,  with: 

i 


2  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  I  wish  more  of  my  people  felt  as  you  do,  little 
missy.  Most  of  my  kinfolk  call  themselves  South 
erners  first  and  Americans  second  and  are  prouder 
of  their  State  than  of  their  country." 

"  I  don't  see  how  they  can  be,"  said  the  child 
with  a  puzzled  frown  between  her  great  blue  eyes. 
"  It  would  be  just  as  if  I  liked  one  hand  better  than 
my  whole  body !  " 

Whereat  the  colonel  slapped  his  leg  and  roared 
in  huge  enjoyment,  and  went  to  Henry's  to  drink 
Carolina's  health  and  to  tell  the  Americans  assem 
bled  there  that  he  knew  a  little  American  girl  that 
would  be  heard  from  some  day. 

All  this  took  place  in  Paris,  when  General  RaveneJ 
Lee,  Carolina's  grandfather,  was  ambassador  to 
France,  and  when  her  father,  Captain  Winchester 
Lee,  was  his  first  secretary. 

Many  brilliant  personages  surrounded  the  child 
and  influenced  her  more  or  less,  according  to  the 
fancy  she  took  to  them,  for  she  was  a  magnetic 
personality  herself,  and  accepted  or  rejected  an  in 
fluence  according  to  some  unknown  inner  guide. 

Her  mother  was  a  woman  of  refinement  and 
breeding,  and  to  her  the  child  owed  much  of  her 
good  taste  and  charmingly  modest  demeanour. 
But  it  was  her  father  who  captured  her  imagina 
tion. 

One   of  her   earliest   recollections   was   of  her 


CAROLINA  LEE  3 

father's  voice  and  manner  when  she  looked  up  from 
her  novel  and  asked  him  why  he  did  not  spell  his 
name  Leigh  as  men  in  books  spelled  theirs. 

She  had  not  known  her  father  very  well,  so  she 
was  totally  unprepared  for  his  reply.  Although  she 
had  been  but  a  little  child,  she  could  see  his  face 
and  hear  his  voice  as  distinctly  to-day  as  she  did 
when  he  whirled  around  on  the  hearth-rug  and 
looked  down  at  her  as  she  sat  on  a  low  stool  with 
a  book  on  her  knees. 

"  Spell  my  name  Leigh  ?  "  he  had  said,  in  a  tone 
she  never  had  heard  him  use  before.  "  Child,  you 
little  know  what  blood  flows  in  your  veins,  or  you 
would  thank  God  every  night  in  your  prayers  that 
you  inherit  the  name  of  Lee,  spelled  in  its  simplest 
way.  Honest  men,  Carolina,  pure  women,  heroes 
in  every  sense  of  the  word;  statesmen,  warriors, 
brave,  with  the  bravery  which  risks  more  than  life 
itself,  are  your  ancestors.  They  date  back  to  the 
Crusaders,  and  down  the  long  line  are  men  of  title 
in  the  old  world,  distinguished  in  ways  you  are 
too  young  to  understand.  Books,  did  you  say? 
Your  name  appears  in  many  a  book,  child,  which 
records  heroic  deeds.  On  both  your  dear  Northern 
mother's  side  and  mine,  you  come  of  blood  which  is 
your  proudest  heritage.  Were  you  poor  and  forced 
to  earn  your  daily  bread,  you  would  still  be  rich 
in  that  which  the  world  can  never  take  away  — 


4  CAROLINA  LEE 

good  blood  and  a  proud  name.  And  remember 
this,  too,  little  daughter,  although  your  life  has 
been  spent  in  foreign  lands,  I  loved  America  so 
well  that  I  gave  you  the  name  of  my  native  State, 
and  my  dearest  wish  is  to  restore  Guildford  and  to 
pass  the  remainder  of  my  life  there." 

It  was  a  long,  long  speech  for  a  little  girl  to 
remember,  but  it  burned  itself  into  her  memory 
and  kindled  her  pride  to  such  a  degree  that  she 
could  hardly  wait  to  tell  some  one  of  her  newly  dis 
covered  treasure. 

Fortunately  her  first  auditor  happened  to  be  her 
governess,  and  fortunately,  also,  her  father  chanced 
to  overhear  her  as  she  translated  his  remarks  into 
shrill  French.  He  immediately  stopped  her,  and 
these  words  also  were  seared  into  her  memory 
through  poignant  mortification. 

"  I  was  wrong  to  tell  you  that,  little  daughter. 
I  see  that  you  are  too  young  to  have  understood  it 
properly.  I  can  only  undo  the  mischief  by  remind 
ing  you  never  to  boast  of  your  old  family  to  any 
one.  If  we  Southerners  have  one  fault  more  than 
another,  it  is  our  tendency  to  mention  the  antiquity 
of  our  families  —  as  if  that  counted  where  breeding 
were  absent.  You  will  observe  that  your  dear 
mother  never  mentions  hers,  though  she  is  a  De  Clif 
ford.  Let  others  boast  if  they  will.  Speak  you 
of  their  family  and  name  and  be  silent  concerning 


CAROLINA  LEE  5 

your  own.  It  is  sufficient  to  feed  your  pride  in 
secret  by  the  inward  knowledge  of  who  you  are. 
Will  you  try  to  remember  that,  little  daughter,  and 
forgive  me  for  putting  notions  into  that  head  of 
yours  ?  " 

She  flew  into  his  arms,  and  in  that  moment  was 
born  the  passionate  love  and  understanding  which 
ever  afterward  existed  between  them. 

"  Oh,  father!  "  she  cried.  "  Don't  be  sorry  you 
told  me!  I  am  not  too  young.  I  will  show  you 
that  I  am  not.  I  will  never  speak  of  it  again,  and 
only  in  my  heart  I  will  always  be  proud  that  I  am 
Carolina  Lee !  " 

In  after  years,  Carolina  dated  her  life  —  her 
most  poignant  happiness  and  her  dearest  anguish 
—  from  the  moment  when  her  father  thus  opened 
his  heart  to  her  and  she  found  how  intensely  they 
were  akin.  He  became  her  idol,  and  she  wor 
shipped  him  not  only  with  the  abandonment  of 
youth,  but  with  all  the  passion  of  her  tempestuous 
nature.  She  set  herself  to  be  worthy  of  his  love 
and  companionship  with  such  ardour  that  she  un 
wittingly  broke  the  first  commandment  every  day 
of  her  life. 

Her  father  realized  it,  perhaps  because  of  his 
answering  passion,  for  he  often  sighed  as  he  looked 
at  her.  He  knew,  as  did  no  one  else,  what  an  in 
heritance  was  hers.  He  felt  in  his  own  bosom  all 


6  CAROLINA  LEE 

the  ardour  and  passion  and  furious  love  of  home 
which  as  yet  his  child  only  suspected  in  herself. 
As  long  as  he  could  remain  at  her  side  he  felt  that 
he  could  control  it  in  both,  but  his  heart  sometimes 
stood  still  at  the  thought  of  what  could  happen  were 
Carolina  left  defenceless.  How  could  the  child 
battle  with  her  own  nature?  He  shook  his  head 
with  his  fine  smile  as  he  realized  how  more  than 
competent  she  was  to  fight  her  own  battles  with 
an  alien. 

They  saw  a  good  deal  of  Colonel  Yancey  in  those 
days.  He  had  some  business  with  the  French  gov 
ernment  which  kept  him  abroad  or  going  back 
and  forth,  and  because  of  his  companionable  quali 
ties,  his  sympathy  as  well  as  his  brilliance,  Captain 
Lee  discussed  his  most  intimate  plans  with  him. 

Carolina  always  made  it  a  point  to  be  present 
when  her  father  and  Colonel  Yancey  smoked  their 
cigars  in  the  library  after  dinner,  for  there  it  was 
that  conversations  took  place  concerning  the  South 
and  Guildford,  of  so  breathless  an  interest  that  not 
one  word  would  she  willingly  have  missed. 

She  had  a  confused  feeling  concerning  Colonel 
Yancey  which  she  was  too  young  to  analyze.  He 
was  only  a  little  past  forty,  and  had  won  his  title 
of  colonel  in  the  Spanish  war.  She  knew  that  her 
father,  like  most  Southern  men,  trusted  Colonel 
Yancey,  simply  because  he  also  was  a  Southern 


CAROLINA  LEE  7 

man,  when  he  would  have  been  cautious  with  a 
Northerner.  He  spoke  freely  of  the  most  intimate 
plans  and  dearest  hopes  of  his  life,  with  all  the 
hearty,  generous,  open  freedom  of  a  great  nature. 
Yet  the  watchful  child  saw  something  in  Colonel 
Yancey's  eyes,  especially  when  her  father  spoke  of 
Guildford,  and  his  passionate  hope  of  the  part  it 
would  play  in  Carolina's  future,  which  reminded 
the  little  girl  of  the  look  in  the  gray  cat's  eyes 
when  she  pretended  to  fall  asleep  by  the  hole  of  a 
mouse. 

This  feeling  was  too  intangible  for  her  to  realize 
at  first,  but  as  years  passed  by,  and  Colonel  Yan 
cey's  business  brought  him  to  Paris  every  season 
while  General  Lee  was  ambassador,  and  when  her 
father  was  transferred  to  the  Court  of  St.  James, 
even  oftener,  she  grew  better  able  to  understand 
her  childish  fears. 

One  day  in  London,  when  Carolina  was  about 
fifteen,  Colonel  Yancey  made  his  appearance, 
dressed  in  deep  mourning.  Carolina  did  not  hear 
the  explanation  made  of  his  loss,  but  she  resented 
vaguely  yet  consciously  the  glances  he  cast  at  her 
during  dinner,  and  when  her  father  whispered  to 
her  that  the  colonel  had  lost  his  wife  and  no  ques 
tions  were  to  be  asked,  her  lip  curled  and  her  deli 
cate  nostrils  dilated.  She  listened  with  more  than 
her  usual  attention  to  the  conversation  which  fol- 


8  CAROLINA  LEE 

lowed,  and  in  after  years  it  often  came  to  her  mind, 
and  never  without  giving  her  some  help. 

Colonel  Yancey  opened  the  conversation  with  an 
inexplicable  remark. 

"  When  I  hear  you  talk,  captain,  I  always  feel 
sorry  for  you." 

Carolina  lifted  her  head  with  instant  hauteur, 
but  her  father  only  smiled  and  knocked  the  ashes 
from  his  cigar. 

"  Yes,  an  enthusiast  of  my  type  is  always  to  be 
pitied,"  he  said,  gently. 

"  Not  entirely  that,"  responded  Colonel  Yancey. 
"  In  some  strong  characters,  their  enthusiasms  only 
indicate  their  weak  points,  but  it  is  not  so  in  your 
case.  It  is  rather  that  you  have  idealized  your 
homesickness." 

"  I  am  homesick,"  said  Captain  Lee,  "  for  what 
I  never  had." 

"  Exactly.  Now  you  left  Guildford  when  you 
were  a  mere  lad,  so  it  is  largely  your  father's  opin 
ion  of  the  South  —  your  father's  love  for  the  old 
place  that  you  have  inherited  and  made  your  own, 
just  as,  in  Miss  Carolina's  case,  it  is  wholly  vicari 
ous.  Have  you  any  idea  of  the  deterioration  your 
own  little  town  of  Enterprise  has  suffered  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  you  are  right,"  said  Captain  Lee. 

"  I  hope,   then,"   said   Colonel  Yancey,   slowly, 


CAROLINA  LEE  9 

"  that  you  will  never  go  back  South  to  live,  espe 
cially  to  Enterprise." 

Carolina's  sensitive  face  flushed,  but  she  was  too 
well  bred  to  interrupt. 

"  You  mean,"  said  Captain  Lee,  with  a  keen 
glance  at  his  friend,  "  that  I  would  find  the  South 
a  disappointment  ?  " 

"  It  would  break  your  heart !  It  hurts  me, 
tough  as  I  am  and  little  as  I  care  compared  to  an 
enthusiast  like  yourself.  It  would  wound  you, 
but  "  —  and  here  he  turned  his  magnetic  glance  on 
the  young  girl  —  "  for  an  idealist  like  missy  here, 
it  would  be  death  itself!  " 

Captain  Lee  reached  out  and  laid  his  hand,  on 
his  daughter's  head. 

"  I  am  afraid  so !  I  am  afraid  so !  "  he  said, 
with  a  sigh. 

"  You  understand  me  ? "  questioned  Colonel 
Yancey.  It  was  a  pleasure,  which  Colonel  Yancey 
seldom  experienced,  to  converse  with  so  compre 
hending  a  man  as  Captain  Lee.  He  was  accus 
tomed  to  dazzling  people  by  his  own  brilliancy,  but 
he  seldom  dived  into  the  depths  of  his  penetrating 
mind  for  the  edification  of  men,  simply  for  the 
reason  that  the  ordinary  run  of  men  seldom  care 
to  be  edified.  But  in  diplomatic  circles,  Colonel 
Yancey  was  a  welcome  guest.  He  possessed  an 
instinct  so  keen  that  it  amounted  almost  to  intui- 


10  CAROLINA  LEE 

tion  in  his  understanding  of  men,  a  business  ability 
amounting  almost  to  genius,  and  a  philosophic  turn 
of  mind  which  permitted  him  to  apply  his  knowl 
edge  with  almost  unerring  judgment.  As  a  pro 
moter,  he  had  served  governments  with  marked 
ability,  and  had  the  reputation  of  having  amassed 
fortunes  for  those  of  his  friends  who  had  followed 
his  lead  and  advice. 

All  this   Carolina  knew   and  yet  — 
However,  she  had  the  good  taste  to  listen  further, 
without  attempting  to  draw  a  hasty  conclusion. 

"  The  South,"  said  Colonel  Yancey,  with  a  sigh 
of  regret,  "  is  like  a  beautiful  woman  asleep  —  no, 
not  asleep,  but  standing  in  the  glorious  sunlight  of 
God,  with  her  eyes  deliberately  shut.  Shut  to  op 
portunity!  Shut  to  advancement!  Shut  to  prog 
ress!  Her  ears  are  closed  also.  Closed  to  advice! 
Closed  to  warning!  Closed  to  truth!  Her  mind 
is  locked.  Locked  against  common  sense!  Locked 
against  the  bitter  lesson  taught  by  a  jolly  good 
licking.  And  the  key  which  thus  locks  her  mind 
is  a  key  which  no  one  but  God  Almighty  could  turn, 
and  that  is  prejudice!  Blind,  bitter,  unreasoning, 
stupid  prejudice!  That  is  why  her  case  is  hope 
less!  That  is  why  fifty  or  a  hundred  years  from 
now  the  South  will  still  be  ignorant,  stagnant, 
and  indigent ! " 


CAROLINA  LEE  n 

"  But  why  ?  Why  ?  "  cried  Carolina,  carried 
quite  out  of  herself  by  her  excitement. 

"  I  beg1  your  pardon !  "    she  added,  flushing. 

Colonel  Yancey  whirled  upon  her,  delighted  to 
have  moved  her  so  that  she  spoke  without  think 
ing. 

"  Why?  My  dear  young  lady  —  why?  Because 
she  spends  half  her  days  and  all  her  evenings  fight 
ing  over  the  lost  battles  of  the  Lost  Cause.  Because 
she  still  glories  in  her  mistakes  of  judgment!  Be 
cause,  almost  to  a  man,  the  South  to-day  believes 
in  the  days  of  '61 !  " 

"Do  they  still  talk  about  it?"  asked  Captain 
Lee. 

"  Talk  about  it  ?  "  cried  Colonel  Yancey.  "  Talk 
about  it?  They  talk  of  little  else!  They  dream 
about  it!  They  absorb  it  in  the  food  they  eat 
and  the  air  they  breathe !  Every  anniversary  which 
gives  them  the  ghost  of  an  excuse  they  get  up  on 
platforms  and  spout  glorious  nonsense,  which  is  so 
out-of-date  —  so  prehistoric  that  it  would  be  laugh 
able,  if  it  were  not  pitiable  —  as  pitiable  as  a  beau 
tiful  woman  would  be  who  paraded  herself  on  Fifth 
Avenue  in  hoop-skirts  and  a  cashmere  shawl.  You 
lose  sight  of  even  great  beauty  if  it  is  clad  in  gar 
ments  so  old-fashioned  that  they  are  ludicrous." 

As  Colonel  Yancey  paused,  Captain  Lee  said, 
with  a  quiet  smile: 


12  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  And  yet,  Wayne,  haven't  I  heard  you  breathe 
fire  and  brimstone  against  the  '  damned  Yankees,' 
and  when  they  come  South  to  invest  their  capital, 
don't  you  feel  that  they  are  legitimate  prey?  " 

Colonel  Yancey  rose  to  his  feet  and  strode  around 
the  room  for  a  few  moments  before  replying. 

"  Well,  Savannah  has  had  her  fill  of  them,  I 
think.  Perhaps  I  do  consider  the  most  of  them 
damned  Yankees,  but  believe  me,  captain,  in  the 
first  place,  we  Southerners  fully  believe  that  they 
deserve  that  title,  and  in  the  second  place,  we  don't 
want  them!  No,  nor  their  money  either!  Let 
them  stay  where  they  are  wanted!" 

"  Ah-h !  "  breathed  Winchester  Lee.  "  Who  now 
has  been  talking  beautiful  nonsense  which  he  didn't 
in  the  least  subscribe  to  ?  " 

"  There!  There!  "  said  Coloned  Yancey.  "  It  is 
a  temptation  to  me  to  follow  the  dictates  of  my 
brain,  but  my  heart,  Winchester,  is  as  unrecon 
structed  as  ever !  After  all,  I  am  no  better  than  the 
rest  of  them! " 

"  But  why  do  they  —  do  you  all  feel  that  way?  " 
asked  Captain  Lee.  "  I  assure  you  from  my  soul 
that  I  do  not." 

"  I  know  you  don't.  But  you  have  had  strong 
meat  to  feed  your  brain  upon  during  all  these  years. 
The  rest  of  us  have  had  nothing  to  feed  our  in 
telligence  upon  except  the  daily  papers  —  and  you 


CAROLINA  LEE  13 

know  what  they  are.  Our  intellects  are  ingrowing, 
and  have  been  for  years. 

"  It  is  difficult  for  you  to  believe  this,  captain, 
and  almost  impossible  for  missy.  But  let  me  ex 
plain  a  bit  further.  For  nearly  forty  years  the 
South  has  been  poor,  with  a  poverty  you  cannot 
understand,  nor  even  imagine.  There  has  been 
no  money  to  buy  books  —  scarcely  enough  to  buy 
food  and  clothes.  The  libraries  are  wholly  inade 
quate.  Consequently  current  fiction  —  that  ephem 
eral  mass  of  part-rubbish,  part-trash,  which  many 
of  us  despise,  but  which,  nevertheless,  mirrors,  with 
more  or  less  fidelity,  modern  times,  its  business, 
politics,  fashions,  and  trend  of  thought  —  is  wholly 
unknown  to  the  great  mass  of  Southern  people. 
The  few  who  can  afford  it  keep  up,  in  a  desultory 
sort  of  way,  with  the  names  of  modern  novelists 
and  a  book  or  two  of  each.  But  compared  to  the 
omnivorous  reading  of  the  Northern  public,  the 
South  reads  nothing.  Therefore,  in  most  private 
libraries  to-day,  you  find  the  novels  which  were  cur 
rent  before  the  war. 

"  Now  take  forty  years  out  of  a  people's  mind, 
and  what  do  you  find?  You  find  a  mental  energy 
which  must  be  utilized  in  some  manner.  Therefore, 
after  a  cursory  knowledge  of  whatever  of  the  clas 
sics  their  grandfathers  had  collected,  and  which 
the  fortunes  of  war  spared,  you  find  a  community, 


14  CAROLINA  LEE 

like  the  Indians,  forced  to  confine  themselves  to 
narratives  handed  down  from  mouth  to  mouth.  It 
creates  an  appalling  lack  in  their  mental  pabulum." 

"  Are  they  conscious  of  this  ?  "  asked  Captain 
Lee.  He  had  been  following  Colonel  Yancey  with 
the  closeness  of  a  man  accustomed  to  learn  of  all 
who  spoke.  Carolina  had  hardly  breathed. 

"  In  a  way  —  yes !  In  a  manner  —  no !  The 
comparative  few  who  are  able  to  travel  see  it  when 
they  return,  but  years  of  parental  training  have 
bred  a  blind  loyalty  to  the  mistakes  of  the  South 
which  paralyzes  all  outside  knowledge.  Even  those 
who  see,  dare  not  express  it.  They  know  they 
would  simply  brand  themselves  as  traitors." 

Carolina  opened  her  lips  to  speak,  then  closed 
them  again.  She  had  been  trained  as  a  child  to  have 
her  opinions  asked  for  before  she  ventured  them. 
Her  father,  who  always  saw  her  with  his  inner  eye, 
whether  he  was  looking  at  her  or  not,  said : 

"  You  were  going  to  say  something,  little  daugh 
ter?" 

"  I  was  only  going  to  ask  Colonel  Yancey  if 
they  would  not  welcome  suggestions  from  one  of 
themselves  ?  " 

"  Welcome  suggestions,  missy  ?  They  would 
welcome  them  with  a  shotgun !  Take  myself,  for 
instance.  I  have  travelled.  I  am  supposed  to  have 
learned  something.  I  and  my  family  have  been 


CAROLINA  LEE  15 

Georgians  ever  since  Georgia  was  a  State.  Yet 
when  I  notice  things  which  my  fellow  citizens  have 
become  accustomed  to,  and  suggest  remedying  them, 
what  do  I  get?  Abuse  from  the  press!  Abuse 
from  the  pulpit!  Abuse  from  friends  and  enemies 
alike!" 

"What  did  you  say,  colonel?"  asked  Captain 
Lee,  smiling. 

"  Why,  I  noticed  the  shabbiness  of  my  little  city 
—  and  a  well-to-do  little  city  she  is.  Yet  half  the 
residences  in  town  need  paint.  Southern  people 
let  their  property  run  down  so,  not  from  poverty, 
but  from  shiftlessness.  You  know,  captain!  It  is 
the  Spanish  word  '  mariana '  with  them.  The  slats 
of  a  front  blind  break  off.  They  stay  off!  Paint 
peels  off  the  brickwork.  It  hangs  there.  A  window- 
pane  cracks.  They  paste  paper  over  it.  A  board 
rots  in  the  front  porch.  They  leave  it,  or  if  they 
replace  it,  they  don't  paint  it,  and  the  new  board 
hits  you  in  the  eye  every  time  you  look  at  it.  They 
decide  to  put  on  an  electric  door-bell.  In  taking 
the  old  one  off  they  leave  the  hole  and  never  think 
of  the  wildness  of  painting  the  door  over!  They 
just  leave  the  hall-mark  of  untidiness,  of  shiftless- 
ness,  over  everything  they  own.  And  if  you  tell 
them  of  it?  Well!" 

"  I  see,"  said  Captain  Lee.  "  I  have  often  won 
dered  why  Northerners  always  spoke  of  the  South' 


16  CAROLINA  LEE 

as  such  a  shabby  place.  They  must  have  meant 
what  you  have  just  described  —  a  lack  of  attention 
to  detail." 

"You  have  noticed  it  yourself?"  asked  Colonel 
Yancey,  eagerly. 

"  You  must  remember  that  I  have  not  been  south 
of  Washington  for  thirty  years." 

"  Ah,  yes,  I  remember.  You  had  the  luck  to  be 
in  the  Civil  War." 

"  I  was  in  it  only  the  last  two  years  before  the 
surrender.  I  enlisted  when  I  was  fourteen,  was  a 
captain  at  sixteen,  and  was  wounded  in  my  last  en 
gagement." 

"And  you've  never  been  back  since?" 

"Never!" 

Colonel  Yancey  leaned  back  and  sighed. 

"  Never  go,  then !  "  he  said.  "  Take  my  advice 
and  never  go.  Remember  your  beautiful  unspoiled 
South  as  you  see  her  in  your  dreams !  " 

"  The  South  is  like  a  petted  woman  who  openly 
declares  that  she  would  rather  be  lied  to  agreeably 
than  be  told  the  truth  to,  objectionably,"  said  Cap 
tain  Lee,  with  a  regretful  smile.  Then  he  added, 
with  a  mischievous  glance  at  Carolina,  "  Do  the 
ladies  still  —  er  —  gossip,  Colonel  Yancey?" 

The  colonel  simply  flung  up  his  hands. 

"Gossip?    My  God!" 


CAROLINA  LEE  17 

It  was  Carolina  who  rebuked  him.  Her  voice 
was  grave,  but  her  eyes  flashed  fire. 

"  Do  Southern  ladies  gossip  more  than  Parisian 
or  London  ladies  ?  " 

"  Fairly  hit,  colonel !  "  said  Captain  Lee.  "  To 
answer  that  truthfully,  you  must  admit  that  they 
do  not,  for  nothing  can  equal  the  malice  of  Paris 
and  London  drawing-rooms." 

"  Quite  right,  captain.  No,  missy,"  he  answered, 
"  it  is  only  because  we  expect  so  much  more  of 
Southern  ladies  that  their  gossip  sounds  more 
malicious  by  way  of  contrast." 

Carolina  smiled,  well  pleased  by  the  brilliant  tact 
with  which  he  always  extricated  himself  from  a 
dilemma. 

When  Colonel  Yancey  had  gone,  Captain  Lee  put 
one  arm  around  Carolina's  shoulder,  and  with  the 
other  hand  tilted  the  girl's  flowerlike  face  up  to  his, 
with  a  remark  which,  if  he  had  made  it  to  his  son, 
would  have  changed  the  whole  current  of  the  girl's 
life.  He  said: 

"  Ah,  little  daughter,  the  colonel  is  like  all  the 
rest  of  the  Southerners.  He  can  see  the  truth  and 
can  spout  gloriously  about  her,  but  in  a  money 
transaction  between  himself  and  a  Northern  man, 
he  would  forget  it  all,  and  would  consider  it  no 
more  than  honest  to  '  skin  the  damned  Yankee,'  to 
quote  his  own  language." 


1 8  CAROLINA  LEE 

And  with  that  the  subject  was  dropped. 

The  Lee  household  at  that  time  consisted  of 
Captain  and  Mrs.  Lee,  the  two  children,  Sherman 
and  Carolina,  and  the  widow  of  a  cousin  of  Cap 
tain  Lee,  Rhett  Winchester,  whom  they  called 
Cousin  Lois. 

Mrs.  Winchester  had  abundant  means  of  her 
own,  which  were  all  in  the  hands  of  the  Lee  fam 
ily  agents,  and  she  was  distinguished  by  her  idola 
try  of  Carolina.  No  temptation  of  travel,  no  woo 
ing  of  elderly  fortune  hunters,  had  power  to  move 
her.  All  the  love  which  in  her  early  life  had  been 
given  to  her  husband,  relations,  and  friends,  she 
now  poured  out  on  the  child  of  her  husband's  cousin. 
She  had  been  denied  children  of  her  own,  which, 
perhaps,  was  just  as  well,  as  she  would  have  ruined 
them  with  indulgence.  Mrs.  Winchester  was  a  born 
aunt  or  grandmother.  She  took  up  the  spoiling  just 
where  a  mother's  firmness  ceased. 

She  cared  very  little  for  Sherman,  who  was  three 
years  older  than  Carolina,  and  who  resembled  his 
Northern  mother  as  closely  as  Carolina  modelled 
herself  upon  her  father,  except  that  Sherman  was 
weak,  whereas  Mrs.  Lee,  as  a  De  Clifford  of  Eng 
land,  inherited  great  strength  of  character  as  well  as 
a  calm  judgment  and  a  governable  quality,  which 
made  her  an  admirable  helpmeet  for  the  fiery,  if 
controlled,  nature  of  her  Southern  husband. 


CAROLINA  LEE  19 

Never  was  there  a  happiness  so  complete  as  Caro 
lina's  seemed  to  be.  She  grew  from  a  beautiful 
child  into  a  still  more  beautiful  young  girl.  She 
absorbed  her  education  without  effort,  learning  lan 
guages  from  much  travel  and  from  hearing  them 
constantly  spoken,  and  breathing  in  the  truest  cul 
ture  from  her  daily  surroundings.  How  could  an 
intelligent  girl  be  ignorant  of  art  and  science  and 
literature  and  diplomacy  when  she  heard  them  dis 
cussed  by  some  of  the  greatest  minds  of  the  day 
as  commonly  as  most  children  hear  continual  con 
versations  about  the  shortcomings  of  the  servants? 
She  did  not  realize  that  she  was  unusually  equipped 
because  it  had  been  absorbed  as  unconsciously  as 
the  air  she  breathed,  but  other  American  girls  who 
came  into  contact  with  her  felt  and  resented  it  or 
admired  it,  according  to  their  calibre. 

In  religion  Carolina  was  outwardly  orthodox 
and  conventional,  but  many  were  the  discussions  she 
and  her  father  held  on  the  subject,  in  strict  privacy, 
and  many  were  the  questions  she  put  to  him  which 
he  could  not  answer.  He  often  ended  these  inter 
rogations  by  gathering  her  up  in  his  arms  and  say 
ing  :  "  My  little  girl  will  need  a  new  religion,  made 
especially  for  her,  if  she  continues  to  trouble  her 
head  about  things  which  no  man  knoweth !  " 

"  But  why  don't  they  know,  dearest  ?  And  why 
does  the  Bible  contradict  itself  so?  And  how  can 


20  CAROLINA  LEE 

God  be  a  '  father '  if  he  sends  pain  and  sickness 
and  death?  Is  He  any  worse  than  a  real  father 
would  be?  And  why  does  He  not  answer  prayers 
when  He  promises  to?  And  when  did  the  healing 
Jesus  taught  His  disciples  disappear?  Did  He  only 
let  them  possess  the  power  for  a  few  years?  Why 
are  we  commanded  to  be  '  perfect '  when  God  knows 
we  can't  be?  And  how  can  you  believe  in  a  God 
who  punishes  you  and  sends  all  manner  of  evil  on 
you  while  calling  Himself  a  God  of  Love?" 

"  Carolina !  Carolina !  You  make  my  head  swim 
with  your  heresies!  I  don't  know,  child!  I  don't 
know  the  answer  to  a  single  one  of  your  questions. 
Such  things  do  not  trouble  me.  I  believe  in  God, 
and  that  satisfies  me." 

"  No,  it  doesn't,  daddy ! "  cried  the  girl,  as 
tutely,  "  but  you  try  to  make  yourself  believe  that 
it  does." 

"  Then  try  to  make  yourself  believe  it,  dear.  It 
has  done  me  very  well  for  nearly  forty  years." 

And  as  usual,  such  footless  discussion  ended  in 
nothingness  and  a  burst  of  human  love  which  ef 
fectually  put  out  of  mind  all  gropings  after  Divine 
Love! 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE  FIRST  GRIEF 

THEN,  with  no  illness  to  prepare  her  for  so  aw 
ful  a  blow,  with  nothing  but  a  stopping  of  the 
heart-beats,  Carolina's  father  fell  into  his  last,  long 
sleep,  and  before  she  could  fairly  realize  her  loss, 
her  mother  followed  him. 

Within  six  weeks,  the  girl  found  herself  orphaned 
and  mistress  of  the  great  Lee  fortune,  but  utterly 
alone  in  the  world,  for  her  grandfather  had  died 
the  year  previous  and  Sherman  had  just  married 
and  gone  back  to  America. 

That  Carolina  felt  her  mother's  loss  no  one  could 
doubt,  but  the  change  in  the  young  girl  wrought 
by  her  father's  death  was  something  awful  to  be 
hold.  She  had  not  dreamed  that  he  could  die.  He 
was  so  young,  so  strong,  so  noble,  so  upright,  such 
an  honour  to  his  country  and  to  his  race!  Why 
should  perfection  cease  to  exist  and  the  ignorant, 
wicked,  and  common  live  on?  Carolina  resisted 
the  thought  with  tigerish  fierceness,  and  openly 
blasphemed  the  God  who  created  her. 


22  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  God  my  father?  "  she  stormed  at  Cousin  Lois, 
who  listened  with  blanched  face  and  trembling  fear 
of  further  vengeance  on  the  part  of  outraged  Deity. 
"  Why,  would  my  own  precious  father  send  me  a 
moment  of  such  suffering  as  I  have  passed  through 
ever  since  they  took  him  away  from  me?  He 
would  have  given  his  life  to  save  me  from  one 
heart-pang,  and  you  ask  me  to  believe  that  God 
is  a  father,  when  He  sends  such  awful  anguish  into 
this  world?" 

"  He  sends  it  for  your  good,  Carolina,  dear," 
pleaded  Cousin  Lois. 

"Oh,  He  does,  does  He?  He  thinks  it  will  do 
me  good  to  suffer?  Daddy  thought  so,  didn't  he? 
Daddy  liked  to  make  me  unhappy,  didn't  he?  He 
didn't  realize  how  blissful  heavenly  love  could  be, 
so  he  only  loved  me  in  a  poor,  blind,  earthly  fash 
ion,  which  made  every  day  a  joy  and  every  hour 
we  spent  together  a  song!  Poor  daddy!  To  be 
so  ignorant  of  the  real  way  to  love  his  children!  " 

"  Oh,  Carolina !  "    moaned  Mrs.  Winchester. 

"  God  hates  me,  Cousin  Lois,"  said  the  girl,  drop 
ping  her  impassioned  manner  and  speaking  with 
bitter  calmness. 

"  I  have  been  recognizing  it  for  some  time.  I 
have  felt  that  He  was  jealous  of  my  happiness. 
You  know  it  says :  '  For  I  the  Lord  thy  God  am 
a  jealous  God.'  He  admits  it  Himself.  So  He 


CAROLINA  LEE  2$ 

took  vengeance  on  me  through  His  power  and 
killed  my  parents  just  to  show  me  that  He  could  1 
But  if  He  thinks  that  I  am  going  to  kneel  down 
and  thank  Him  for  murder,  and  love  Him  for 
ruining  my  life  —  " 

A  steel  blue  light  seemed  to  blaze  from  the  girl's 
eyes  as  she  thus  raised  her  tiny  hand  and  shook 
it  at  her  Creator. 

Cousin  Lois  burst  into  tears.  Carolina  viewed 
her  without  sympathy. 

"  I  am  so  little,"  she  said,  suddenly.  "  It  is  a 
brave  thing  for  God  to  pit  His  great  strength 
against  mine,  isn't  it?  Listen  to  me,  Cousin  Lois, 
I  am  done  with  religion  from  now  on.  I  will 
never  say  another  prayer  as  long  as  I  live.  The 
worst  has  happened  to  me  which  could  happen. 
Nothing  more  counts." 

It  was  while  she  was  in  this  terrible  state  of  mind 
that  Mrs.  Winchester  took  charge  of  her. 

Sherman  and  his  wife  came  over  for  the  funeral 
of  their  father,  and  before  they  could  so  arrange 
their  affairs  as  to  be  able  to  leave  for  home,  they 
were  called  upon  to  bury,  instead  of  try  to  console, 
their  mother. 

Neither  Carolina  nor  Mrs.  Winchester  liked 
Adelaide,  Sherman's  wife.  She  was  selfish  and 
ignorant,  but,  with  true  loyalty  to  their  own,  they 
never  expressed  themselves  on  the  subject,  even  to 


24  CAROLINA  LEE 

each  other.  After  the  period  of  mourning  was 
over,  they  accepted  her  invitation  to  visit  her,  and 
spent  a  month  in  New  Work.  Then,  with  no  ex 
planation  whatever,  Mrs.  Winchester  and  Carolina 
went  abroad  and  travelled  —  travelled  now  furi 
ously,  now  in  a  desultory  way;  now  stopping  for 
one  month  or  six ;  now  hurrying  away  from  a  spot 
as  if  plague-stricken  —  all  at  Carolina's  whim. 

It  was  a  strange  life  for  an  ardent  young  Amer 
ican  to  lead,  but  Noel  St.  Quentin  and  Kate  How 
ard,  who  knew  Carolina  best,  shook  their  heads, 
and  fancied  that  the  two  travellers  found  in  Mrs. 
Sherman  Lee  their  incentive  to  remain  away  from 
America  so  long  and  so  persistently. 

Mrs.  Winchester  and  Carolina  were  an  oddly  as 
sorted  pair,  but  their  very  dissimilarity  made  them 
congenial. 

Mrs.  Winchester  was  a  woman  who  merited  the 
attention  she  always  received. 

At  first  sight  she  did  not  invariably  attract,  be 
ing  stout,  asthmatic,  vague  of  manner,  and  of 
middle  age.  She  had  her  figure  well  in  hand,  how 
ever,  large  though  she  was.  Her  waist-line,  she 
was  fond  of  saying,  had  remained  the  same  for 
twenty  years,  though  the  rest  of  her  had  outgrown 
all  recollection  of  the  trim  young  girl  she  doubtless 
had  been.  But  it  was  her  complexion  of  which 


CAROLINA  LEE  25 

she  was  most  proud.  It  was  still  a  blending  of 
cream  and  roses,  and  her  blush  was  famous. 

"  Carolina,  child,"  she  used  to  say,  "  don't  let 
me  be  ridiculous,  just  because  I  am  large.  Promise 
me  that  you  will  never  leave  crumbs  on  my  breast, 
even  if  they  fall  there  and  I  can't  see  them.  If 
you  only  knew  how  I  suffered  from  not  knowing 
where  all  of  me  is.  Why,  with  my  figure,  it  is 
just  like  the  women  we  used  to  see  in  Russia  with 
little  tables  on  each  hip  and  a  tray  around  their 
necks.  Don't  laugh,  child.  It's  dreadful,  my  dear." 

"  Well,  but  Cousin  Lois,  it  wouldn't  be  so  bad 
if  you  wouldn't  pinch  your  waist  in  so.  Just  let 
that  out  and  you  will  find  yourself  falling  into 
place,  so  to  speak." 

"What!"  cried  Mrs.  Winchester.  "Lose  the 
only  —  the  only  thing  I  have  left  to  be  proud  of, 
except  my  complexion?  Carolina,  you  are  crazy. 
I'd  rather  never  draw  another  comfortable  breath 
than  to  add  one  inch  to  my  waist-line.  No,  Caro 
lina.  Don't  advise  me.  Just  watch  for  the  crumbs. 
For  I  will  not  be  guilty  of  the  inelegance  of  tuck 
ing  a  napkin  under  my  chin  if  I  ruin  a  dress  at  each 
meal." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Mrs.  Winchester  was 
quite  determined  in  spite  of  the  gentlest  manner 
of  putting  her  ultimatum  into  words. 

She  carefully  cultivated  her  asthma,  as,  without 


26  CAROLINA  LEE 

affording  her  too  much  discomfort,  it  was  always 
an  excuse  to  travel. 

"  Asthma  is  the  most  respectable  disease  I  know 
of,"  she  often  said  to  Carolina.  "  Gout  is  more 
aristocratic,  but  so  uncomfortable.  Asthma  is  re 
fined  and  thoroughly  convenient,  besides  always 
forming  a  safe  topic  of  conversation,  especially 
with  strangers." 

"  That  makes  it  almost  indispensable  for  persist 
ent  travellers  like  us,  doesn't  it  ?  "  said  Carolina. 

"  Well,  you  may  get  tired  of  hearing  about  it, 
but  with  me  it  is  always  a  test  of  a  person's  man 
ners.  When  a  stranger  says  to  me  '  How  do  you 
do,  Mrs.  Winchester  ? '  I  don't  consider  him  polite 
if  he  makes  that  merely  a  form  of  salutation.  I  * 
want  him  to  stand  still  and  listen  while  I  answer 
his  question  and  tell  him  just  how  I  feel !  " 

She  also  had  a  slight  cast  in  her  eye,  which  added 
to  this  gentleness  and  likewise  led  the  casual  ob 
server  to  suspect  her  of  vagueness  of  purpose,  but 
her  intimates  made  no  such  mistake.  The  mere  fact 
that  one  of  her  light  gray  eyes  was  not  quite  in 
line  with  the  other  rather  added  to  her  attractions, 
for  if  her  features  and  manner  had  carried  out  the 
suggestions  of  her  figure,  she  would  have  been  a 
formidable  addition  to  society  instead  of  the  charm 
ing  one  she  really  proved. 

She  habitually  wore  light  mourning  for  the  two 


CAROLINA  LEE  27 

excellent  reasons  she  herself  gave,  although  Gen 
eral  Winchester  had  been  dead  these  twelve  years. 

"  In  the  first  place,"  she  always  said,  when  Caro 
lina  tried  to  coax  her  to  leave  off  her  veil  at  least 
in  warm  weather,  "  mourning  is  so  dignified,  es 
pecially  in  the  chaperoning  of  a  young  and  charm 
ing  girl.  In  the  second  place,  age  shows  first  of 
all  in  a  woman's  neck,  try  as  she  may  to  conceal 
it.  In  the  third  place,  a  large  woman  ought  always 
to  wear  black  if  she  knows  what  she  is  about,  and 
as  to  my  bonnet  always  being  a  trifle  crooked,  as 
you  say  it  is,  well,  Carolina,  little  as  I  like  to  say 
it,  I  really  think  that  is  your  fault.  It  would  be  so 
easy  for  you  to  keep  your  eye  on  it  and  give  me  a 
hint.  I  only  ask  these  two  things  of  you." 

"  I'll  try,  Cousin  Lois,"  Carolina  always  hastened 
to  say,  "  though  really  a  crooked  bonnet  on  you 
does  not  look  as  bad  as  it  would  on  some  women. 
If  you  can  understand  me,  it  really  seems  to  be 
come  you  —  it  looks  so  natural  and  so  comfort 
able." 

"  Now,  Carolina,  that  is  only  your  dear  way  of 
trying  to  set  me  a  mon  aise!  As  if  a  crooked  bon 
net  ever  could  look  nice!" 

Yet  she  cast  a  glance  into  the  mirror  as  she 
spoke,  and  seeing  that  her  bonnet  was  even  then 
a  point  off  the  compass  she  forebore  to  change  it. 
Such  graceful  yielding  to  flattery  was  in  itself  a 


28  CAROLINA  LEE 

charm.  But  the  thing  about  Mrs.  Winchester, 
which  proved  a  never-failing  source  of  amusement 
to  the  laughter-loving,  was  her  amusing  habit  of 
miscalling  words.  She  habitually  interpolated  into 
her  sentences  words  beginning  with  the  same  letter 
as  the  term  she  had  intended,  as  if  her  brain  had 
been  switched  off  before  completing  its  thought 
and  her  tongue  did  the  best  it  could,  left  without 
a  guide. 

"  Carolina,"  she  would  say,  "  come  and  look  .up 
Zurich  on  the  map  for  me;  I  can't  see  without  my 
gloves." 

In  her  hours  of  greatest  depression  this  trait 
never  failed  to  amuse  Carolina,  and  when,  on  one 
occasion,  Cousin  Lois  took  the  tissue-paper  from 
around  a  new  bonnet,  folded  the  paper  carefully 
and  put  it  in  the  hat-box  and  threw  the  bonnet  in 
the  waste-basket,  Carolina  laughed  herself  into 
hysterics. 

Carolina  was  genuinely  fond  of  Cousin  Lois,  but 
it  must  be  confessed  that  one  great  secret  of  her 
attractiveness  for  the  girl  was  because  much  of 
Cousin  Lois's  early  childhood  had  been  spent  at 
Guildford,  when  she  had  been  a  ward  of  General 
Lee's,  and  thus  had  met  his  nephew,  Rhett  Win 
chester,  whom  she  afterward  married. 

Thus,  while  not  related  to  their  immediate  fam 
ily,  Cousin  Lois  was  inextricably  mixed  up  with 


CAROLINA  LEE  29 

their  history  and  knew  all  the  traditions  which 
Carolina  so  prized. 

Although  Mrs.  Winchester  deplored  Carolina's 
persistence  in  so  dwelling  upon  the  past  and  brood 
ing  over  her  loss,  nothing  ever  really  interested  this 
girl  except  to  talk  about  her  father  or  the  golden 
days  of  Guildford. 

She  cared  nothing  for  her  wealth.  She  shifted 
the  burden  of  investing  it  upon  Sherman's  shoul 
ders,  and  refused  even  to  read  his  reports  upon  its 
earnings. 

Admirers  failed  to  interest  her  for  the  reason 
that  she  was  unable  to  believe  that  they  sought  her 
for  herself  alone.  Her  fortune  had  the  effect  upon 
her  of  keeping  her  modest  concerning  her  own  great 
beauty. 

But  grief  and  a  rooted  discontent  with  everything 
life  has  to  offer  will  mar  the  rarest  beauty  and  un 
dermine  the  most  robust  health,  and  the  change 
struck  Colonel  Yancey  with  such  force  when  he 
met  them  in  Rome  that  he  became  almost  explosive 
to  Mrs.  Winchester. 

'The  girl  is  losing  her  beauty,  madam!"  he 
said.  "  Look  at  the  healthful  glow  of  your  com 
plexion  and  then  look  at  her  pale  face!  Her  eyes 
used  to  dance!  Her  lips  were  all  smiles!  Her 
cheeks  were  like  two  roses!  And  what  do  I  find 
now?  A  sneer  on  that  perfect  mouth!  Coldness, 


30  CAROLINA  LEE 

cruelty,  if  you  like,  in  those  eyes!  Why,  madam, 
it  is  a  sin  for  so  beautiful  a  creature  as  Miss  Caro 
lina  to  destroy  herself  in  this  way.  She  might  as 
well  shoot  herself  and  be  done  with  it !  What  does 
she  want?  " 

"  She  wants  what  she  can  never  have,  Colonel 
Yancey,"  said  Mrs.  Winchester,  sadly.  "  Carolina 
wants  her  father  to  come  back." 

"  We  all  want  that,  madam !  "  said  the  colonel, 
gravely.  "  I  no  less  than  the  others.  His  loss 
never  grows  less." 

When  Cousin  Lois  repeated  this  conversation  to 
Carolina,  she  laughed  at  what  he  said  about  her 
beauty,  but  flushed  with  gratitude  at  his  praise  of 
her  father,  and  was  so  kind  to  the  colonel  for  two 
days  afterward  that  he  proposed  to  her  again  and 
so  fell  from  grace,  as  he  persisted  in  doing  with 
somewhat  annoying  regularity. 

They  travelled  for  another  year,  and  Carolina 
grew  no  better.  She  seldom  complained,  but  her 
lack  of  interest  in  everything,  added  to  her  restless 
love  of  change,  preyed  upon  Mrs.  Winchester. 

They  were  in  Bombay  when  this  restlessness  got 
beyond  control. 

"  I  am  not  happy !  "  she  cried,  passionately, 
"  and  knowing  I  ought  to  be  is  what  makes  me 
even  more  miserable !  " 

"  What  you  need  is  a  good  dose  of  America," 


CAROLINA  LEE  31 

said    Cousin    Lois,    decidedly.      "  You   are    home 
sick!" 

"  I  believe  I  am !  "  she  answered,  with  brighten 
ing  eyes.  "  I  am  homesick,  though,  for  somethkig 
in  America  which  I've  never  found  there." 

"  You  are  homesick  for  South  Carolina,"  said 
Cousin  Lois,  with  timid  daring. 

At  these  words  a  look  came  into  Carolina's  eyes 
which  half-frightened  Mrs.  Winchester,  for  Caro 
lina  had  suddenly  recalled  her  father's  words. 

"  My  dearest  wish  is  to  restore  Guildford,  and 
pass  the  remainder  of  my  days  in  the  old  place." 

Instantly  her  life-work  spread  itself  out  before 
her.  Here  was  the  solution  to  all  her  restlessness, 
the  answer  to  all  her  questionings  of  Fate,  the  link 
which  could  bind  her  closer  to  her  beloved  father! 
If  he  could  have  spoken,  she  knew  that  he  would 
have  urged  her  to  give  her  life,  if  need  be,  to  the 
restoration  of  Guildford. 

Her  interest  in  existence  returned  with  a  gush. 
A  new  light  gleamed  in  her  eyes.     A  new  smile  ' 
wreathed  her  too  scornful  lips.     Her  face  was  ir 
radiated  by  the  first  look  of  love  which  Cousin  Lois 
had  seen  upon  it  since  her  father's  death. 

They  began  to  pack  in  an  hour. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE   DANGER    OF    WISHING, 

THE  Lees'  dinner-table  was  round,  and  about  it 
were  gathered  six  people  —  Sherman  and  his  wife, 
Carolina,  Mrs.  Winchester,  Noel  St.  Quentin,  and 
Kate  Howard,  Carolina's  most  intimate  girl  friend. 
It  was  the  first  time  they  had  all  met  since  the 
return  of  the  travellers  from  India.  Later  they 
were  going  to  hear  Melba  in  "  Faust,"  but  there-, 
was  no  hurry.  It  was  only  nine  o'clock. 

"  Carolina,  if  you  could  have  the  dearest  wish 
of  your  heart,  what  would  it  be  ? "  asked  Noel 
St.  Quentin. 

"  If  I  should  tell,  it  might  not  come  true,"  Caro 
lina  answered.  "  And  I  want  it  so  much !  " 

"  I  never  saw  such  a  girl  as  Carolina  in  all  my 
life,"  complained  her  sister-in-law.  "  Her  mind  is 
always  made  up.  She  keeps  her  ideas  as  orderly  as 
an  old  maid's  bureau-drawer.  No  odds  and  ends 
anywhere.  You  may  ask  her  any  sort  of  a  ques 
tion,  and  she  has  her  answer  ready.  She  knows 
just  what  box  in  her  brain  it  is  in.  Just  fancy 

32 


CAROLINA  LEE  33 

O'vJ 

having  thought  out  what  your  wish  would  be,  and 
having  it  at  your  tongue's  end  to  tell  at  a  dinner 
party!" 

Mrs.  Lee  leaned  back  and  fanned  herself  with  a 
fatigued  air. 

"  You  almost  indicate  that  Carolina  thinks,"  said 
St.  Quentin. 

"  Oh,  don't  accuse  me  of  such  a  crime  in  pub 
lic  !  "  cried  the  girl,  laughing. 

"  Carolina  seems  to  me  the  one  person  on  earth 
whose  every  wish  had  been  gratified  before  it  could 
be  uttered,"  said  St.  Quentin,  who  was  in  some 
occult  way  related  to  the  Lees.  "  I  would  be  in 
terested  to  know  just  what  her  dream  in  life  could 
be-." 

Carolina  smiled  at  him  gently. 

"  She  —  she's  had  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa 
a-all  her  life,"  cried  Kate  Howard,  who  always  stut 
tered  a  little  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment.  To 
Carolina  this  slight  stutter  was  one  of  Kate's  great 
est  fascinations.  You  found  yourself  expecting 
and  rather  looking  forward  to  it.  At  least  it 
spelled  enthusiasm.  "  She's  had  masters  in  every 
known  accomplishment.  She  —  she  can  do  all  sorts 
of  things.  She  can  speak  any  language  except 
Chinese,  I  do  believe.  She's  pretty.  She's  rich  in 
her  own  right  —  no  waiting  for  dead  men's  shoes 
or  trying  to  get  along  on  an  allowance  —  a-and 


34  CAROLINA  LEE 

what  under  the  sun  can  she  want  —  e-except  a 
husband?" 

"  Perhaps,  if  she's  good,  she  may  even  get  that," 
said  St.  Quentin. 

Again  Carolina  smiled.  But  her  smile  faded 
when  her  eyes  met  those  of  her  sister-in-law,  who 
viewed  the  girl  with  a  thinly  veiled  dislike.  The 
girl's  eyes  flashed.  Then  she  spoke. 

"  I  have  wanted  one  thing  so  much  that  I  am 
sure  sometime  I  must  achieve  it,"  she  said,  slowly. 
"  I  want  to  be  so  poor  that  I  shall  be  forced  to  earn 
my  own  living  with  no  help  from  anybody!  " 

She  was  not  looking  at  her  brother  as  she  spoke, 
or  she  would  have  seen  him  start  so  violently  that 
he  upset  his  champagne-glass,  and  that  his  face 
had  turned  white. 

"  What  did  I  tell  you?  "   murmured  St.  Quentin. 

"  Carol  likes  to  be  sensational,"  said  Mrs.  Lee. 
"  No  one  would  dislike  to  be  poor  more  than  she, 
and  no  one  would  find  herself  more  utterly  helpless 
and  dependent,  if  such  a  calamity  were  to  overtake 
her." 

"  I  wouldn't  call  it  a  calamity,"  said  Carolina, 
quietly. 

"  Yes,  you  would !  "    cried  Kate. 

"  I  am  inclined  to  agree  with  Carol,"  said  St. 
Quentin,  deliberately,  "  and  to  disagree,  if  I  may, 
with  Cousin  Adelaide.  In  my  opinion,  Carol  could 


CAROLINA  LEE  35 

go  out  to-morrow  with  only  enough  money  to  pay 
her  first  week's  board,  and  support  herself." 

"  I  hope  she  may  never  be  obliged  to  try,"  said 
her  brother,  harshly.  "  Addie,  if  you  intend  to 
hear  any  of  the  music,  we'd  better  be  starting.  It 
is  a  quarter  to  ten  now." 

Addie  raised  her  shoulders  in  a  slight  shrug. 

"  When  Carolina  holds  the  centre  of  the  stage, 
it  is  impossible  to  carry  out  one's  own  ideas  of 
promptness,"  she  said. 

"  Nasty  old  cat,"  whispered  Kate  to  St.  Quentin, 
as  he  stooped  for  her  glove  and  handkerchief. 
"  Thanks  so  much.  I  don't  know  how  I  managed 
it,  but  I  held  on  to  my  fan." 

Later  in  the  Lees'  box  with  Melba  singing 
Marguerite,  St.  Quentin  turned  to  Carolina  again. 
She  had  swept  the  house  with  her  glass  as  soon 
as  the  party  were  seated,  and  had  noted  but  one 
old  acquaintance  whose  face  seemed  to  invite  study. 
The  girl's  name  was  Rosemary  Goddard,  and 
among  the  discontented  faces  which  thronged  the 
boxes  in  the  horseshoe,  hers  alone  was  peaceful. 
Nay,  more.  It  was  radiant.  Carolina  remembered 
her  face  —  a  cold,  aristocratic  mouth,  disdainful 
eyes,  haughty  brows,  and  a  nose  which  seemed  to 
spurn  friend  and  foe  alike.  What  a  transfigura 
tion!  How  beautiful  she  had  grown! 

She  was  so  occupied  with  the  enigma  Rosemary 


36  CAROLINA  LEE 

presented  that  St.  Quentin  was  obliged  to  repeat 
his  question. 

"How  would  you  go  to  work,  Carol?" 

The  girl  turned  with  a  sigh.  Sometimes  it 
seemed  to  her  that  she  never  would  become  ac 
customed  to  talking  at  the  opera.  She  almost  en 
vied  a  tall  young  man,  who  stood  in  the  first  bal 
cony.  His  evening  clothes  were  of  a  hopeless  cut. 
His  manner  was  that  of  a  stranger  in  New  York, 
but  in  his  face,  one  of  the  finest  she  had  ever  seen, 
was  such  a  passion  for  music  that  she  watched  him, 
even  while  she  answered  St.  Quentin  with  a  grace 
which  hid  her  unwillingness  to  talk. 

"  For  what  I  really  would  love  to  do,"  she  said 
over  her  white  shoulder,  with  her  eyes  on  the 
strange  young  man,  "  you  started  me  off  a  little  too 
poor.  I  might  have  to  borrow  a  hundred  or  two 
from  you  to  begin  with!  I  want  to  pioneer!  I 
don't  mean  that  I  want  to  go  into  a  wilderness  and 
be  a  squatter.  I  want  to  reclaim  some  abandoned 
farm  —  make  over  some  ugly  house  —  make  arid 
acres  yield  me  money  in  my  purse  —  money  not 
given  to  me,  left  to  me,  nor  found  by  me,  but  money 
that  I,  myself  —  Carolina  Lee  —  have  earned ! 
Does  that  amuse  you  ?  " 

"  It  interests  me,"  said  St.  Quentin,  quietly. 

To  be  taken  seriously  was  more  than  the  girl 
expected.  She  was  only  telling  him  a  half-truth, 


CAROLINA  LEE  37 

because  she  did  not  consider  him  privileged  to  hear 
the  whole.  She  continued  to  test  him. 

"  I  never  see  an  ugly  house  that  I  do  not  long 
to  go  at  it,  hammer  and  tongs,  and  make  it  pretty. 
Not  expensive,  you  understand,  —  I've  lived  in 
Paris  too  long  not  to  know  how  to  get  effects 
cheaply,  —  but  attractive.  Oh,  Noel !  The  ugli 
ness  of  rural  America,  when  Nature  has  done  so 
much!" 

"  You  ought  to  have  been  a  man,"  said  St.  Quen- 
tin. 

"  I  would  have  been  more  of  a  success,"  said  the 
girl,  quickly.  "  I  believe  I  could  have  started  poor 
and  become  well-to-do." 

"  How  you  do  emphasize  beginning  poor  and 
how  you  never  mention  becoming  rich!  Don't 
millions  appeal  to  you  ?  " 

"  Not  at  all !  nor  do  these  common  men,  even 
though  they  did  begin  poor,  who  have  acquired 
millions  by  speculation.  They  but  make  themselves 
and  their  sycophants  ridiculous.  No,  I  mean  hon 
est  commerce  —  buying  and  selling  real  commodi 
ties  at  a  fair  profit  —  establishing  new  industries 
—  developing  situations  —  taking  advantage  of 
Nature's  beginnings.  Such  thoughts  as  these  are 
the  only  things  in  life  which  really  thrill  me." 

"  I  understand  you,"  said  St.  Quentin,  "  but  I 
fear  your  wish  will  never  come  true.  Years  ago 


38  CAROLINA  LEE 

I  held  similar  desires.  All  my  plans  fell  through. 
I  had  too  much  money.  And  so  have  you.  You'll 
have  to  go  on  being  a  millionairess,  whether  you 
will  or  no,  and  you'll  marry  another  millionaire  and 
eat  and  drink  more  than  is  good  for  you  and  lose 
your  complexion  and  your  waist  line  and  end  your 
life  a  dowager  in  black  velvet  and  diamonds." 

A  messenger  boy  entered  and  handed  a  telegram 
to  Sherman  Lee,  just  as  Melba  rose  from  her  straw 
pallet  and  led  the  glorious  finale  to  "  Faust." 

Her  brother  leaned  over  and  touched  her  arm. 

"  You  may  get  your  infernal  wish  sooner  than 
you  expected,"  he  said,  with  a  wry  smile  twisting 
his  pale  face. 

Carolina  turned  to  St.  Quentin  with  indifference. 

"  Possibly  I  may  yet  keep  my  waist  line,"  she 
said,  as  he  laid  her  cloak  on  her  shoulders. 

On  the  way  out  she  came  face  to  face  with  the 
tall  young  man  who  had  stood  through  the  whole 
opera,  in  the  balcony. 

He  gave  back  all  her  interest  in  him  in  the  one 
look  .he  cast  upon  her  loveliness.  A  sudden  light  of 
incredulous  surprise  dilated  her  eyes  and  a  swift 
blush  stained  her  cheeks.  She  recognized,  in  some 
intangible,  unknown  way,  that  he  possessed  kindred 
traits  with  her  father  and  with  herself.  He  had 
the  same  look  in  his  eyes  —  or  rather  back  of  them, 
as  if  his  eyes  were  only  a  hint  of  what  lay  hid  in 


CAROLINA  LEE  39 

his  soul.  He  was  of  their  temperament.  He 
dreamed  the  same  dreams.  He  was  akin  to  her. 

"  I  could  have  told  him  the  truth,"  she  whispered. 
"  He  would  have  understood  that  I  meant  Guild- 
ford  all  the  time,  and  that  the  reason  I  want  to  be 
poor  is  so  that  I  can  show  that  I  am  willing  to  work, 
to  carry  out  my  father's  dearest  wish.  Just  to 
spend  money  on  it  is  too  sordid  and  too  easy.  I 
want  it  to  be  made  hard  for  me,  just  to  show  them 
what  I  will  do !  He  would  have  understood !  " 

But  with  one's  best  friends  it  is  as  well  to  be 
on  the  defensive,  and  not  let  them  know  our  true 
aims,  lest  they  take  advantage  of  their  friendship 
and  treat  our  heart's  dearest  secrets  with  mockery. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  TURN   OF  THE  WHEEL 

A'  WEEK  later  St.  Quentin  dropped  in  at  Mrs. 
Lee's  for  a  cup  of  tea.  He  would  have  preferred 
to  have  Carol  brew  it,  for  she  had  not  only  learned 
how  in  Russia,  but  had  brought  with  her  a  brand 
of  tea  which,  to  St.  Quentin's  mind,  was  not  to  be 
ignored  for  mere  conversation,  and  once  drunk,  was 
not  to  be  forgotten.  When  Mrs.  Lee  was  out,  Carol 
dispensed  this  tea,  but  when  Addie  was  in  her  own 
house,  she  was  mistress  of  it  in  more  ways  than 
tea-drinking. 

St.  Quentin  found  several  people  there  for  whom 
he  had  little  use,  so  he  sat  silent  until  they  had  gone 
and  no  one  except  Kate,  Adelaide,  and  Carol  were 
left. 

Carol  was  wearing  a  pale  blue  velvet  gown 
trimmed  with  sable  and  a  picture  hat  with  a  long 
white  ostrich  plume  which  swept  her  shoulder. 
Both  St.  Quentin  and  Kate  plied  her  with  admir 
ing  comments  until  Addie  could  bear  it  no  longer, 
and  excused  herself  with  unnatural  abruptness. 

40 


CAROLINA  LEE  41 

"  There  are  more  ways  than  one  of  killing  a  cat," 
murmured  St.  Quentin,  stooping  for  Kate's  im 
mense  ermine  muff,  which  she  had  dropped  for  the 
third  time,  "  than  by  choking  it  to  death  with 
cream." 

Kate  laughed  delightedly. 

Carolina  turned  from  the  doorway. 

"  Don't  go,  either  of  you,"  she  said.  "  I  am 
only  going  for  some  tea.  Noel,  ring  for  some  more 
hot  water,  will  you?" 

"  I  wonder  how  it  would  be,"  said  Kate,  dream 
ily,  "  to  be  born  without  any  relations  at  all ! 
Could  one  manage  to  be  happy,  do  you  think  ?  " 

"  Carol  couldn't.     She  is  very  fond  of  Sherman." 

"  I  wouldn't  be  fond  of  any  brother  who  had  lost 
all  his  own  fortune  and  mine  and  was  millions  in 
debt  besides.  One  couldn't  love  a  fool,  you  know." 

"  I  know.  But  do  you  remember  what  Carol 
said  about  wanting  to  be  poor  ?  " 

"Of  course  I  remember!"  said  Kate,  "but  I 
d-didn't  believe  her  then  and  I  d-don't  believe  her 
now.  Carol  was  s-simply  lying  —  that's  the  answer 
to  that!" 

"Lying  about  what?"  asked  Carolina,  reenter- 
ing,  with  a  square  box  in  her  hand.  The  box  was 
of  old  silver,  heavily  carved  and  set  with  turquoise. 

"  Lying  about  being  g-glad  Sherman  has  lost 
all  your  money.  Of  course  you  were  lying, 


42  CAROLINA  LEE 

w- weren't  you?  No-nobody  but  a  raving  maniac 
could  be  glad  to  be  p-poor." 

"  Then  I  am  a  raving  maniac,"  said  Carolina, 
pouring  the  delicately  brewed  tea  carefully  into  the 
tall,  slender  glasses.  "Lemon  or  rum,  Kate?" 

"W-which  will  I  like  best?  I  —  I've  had  four 
cups  already  to-day." 

"  Then  you'd  better  have  rum.  It  makes  you 
sleep  when  you  have  had  too  much  tea." 

"  Lemon  for  me,  please,"  said  St.  Quentin. 

"  I  remembered  that,"  said  Carolina,  smiling. 
"  And  three  lumps." 

"  P-put  in  some  m-more  rum,  Carol.  I  can't 
taste  it." 

"  What  a  Philistine !  "  cried  St.  Quentin.  "  To 
insult  such  tea  with  rum." 

"  It's  quite  g-good,"  murmured  Kate,  with  her 
glass  to  her  lips.  "  When  y-you  have  enough  of  it." 

"  So  you  really  think  I  can't  mean  it  when  I  tell 
you  I  am  glad  that  Sherman  has  lost  all  our 
money?"  said  Carolina.  "Of  course  I  am  sorry 
on  Addie's  account  —  she  cares  a  great  deal  and  is 
quite  miserable  over  her  future  prospects.  But  she 
has  ten  thousand  a  year  from  her  own  estate,  so 
she  can  still  educate  the  children  and  get  along  in 
some  degree  of  comfort.  But  as  for  me  "  —  she 
leaned  forward  in  her  chair  with  the  whimsical 
idea  of  testing  their  calibre  kindling  in  her  eyes  — 


CAROLINA  LEE  43 

"  if  you  will  believe  me  and  will  not  scoff,  I  will 
tell  you  what  my  plan  is." 

"  Promise,"  said  Kate,  briefly. 

"  If  Sherman  can  manage  it,  I  want,"  said  Caro 
lina,  slowly,  but  with  an  odd  gleam  in  her  eye,  "  to 
buy  an  abandoned  farm  in  New  England  and  raise 
chickens." 

In  spite  of  her  promise,  Kate  looked  at  the  beau 
tiful  face  and  figure  of  the  girl  in  blue  velvet  and 
sables  who  said  this,  and  burst  into  a  shriek  of 
laughter,  which  St.  Ouentin,  after  a  moment's  de 
corous  struggle,  joined. 

"I  know,"  said  Carolina,  leaning  back,  still  with 
that  curious  look  in  her  eyes.  "  I  know  it  sounds 
absurd.  I  know  you  are  thinking  of  me  out  feed 
ing  chickens  in  these  clothes.  But  oh,  if  you  only 
knew  how  tired  I  am  of  —  of  everything  that  my 
life  has  held  hitherto.  If  you  only  knew  how  un 
happy  I  am !  If  you  only  knew  how  I  want  a  farm 
with  pigs  and  chickens  and  cows  and  horses.  If 
you  only  knew  how  I  long  to  plant  things  and  see 
them  grow.  But  above  everything  else  in  the  world, 
if  you  only  knew  how  I  want  a  dark  blue  print 
dress !  I  saw  a  country  girl  in  one  once  when  I  was 
a  child  in  England,  and  I've  never  been  really  happy 
since." 

She  joined  in  the  burst  of  laughter  which  fol 
lowed. 


44  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  But  do  things  grow  on  farms  in  New  Eng 
land?"  asked  Kate.  "And  isn't  that  just  why  so 
many  are  abandoned  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  so,"  answered  Carolina,  "  but  those 
are  the  only  ones  which  are  cheap,  and  chickens 
don't  need  a  rich  soil.  All  you've  got  to  do  is 
to  —  " 

"  I'd  go  South,"  interrupted  Kate,  "  or  to  Cali 
fornia,  where  the  c-climate  would  help  some. 
I've  read  in  the  papers  how  farmers  suffer  when 
their  crops  fail.  I  —  I'd  hate  to  think  of  you  suf 
fering  if  your  turnips  didn't  sprout  properly, 
Carol!" 

"  Laugh  if  you  want  to,  but  I'll  get  my  farm  in 
some  way." 

"  How  about  the  old  Lee  estate  in  South  Caro 
lina  ?  "  asked  St.  Ouentin. 

For  the  first  time  in  his  life  St.  Quentin  was  ac 
tually  conscious  that  Carolina  was  mocking  him. 
The  thought  was  startling.  Why  should  she  dis 
semble?  Carolina's  face  fell,  and  a  trace  of  bitter 
ness  crept  into  her  voice.  This  seemed  so  natural 
that  he  forgot  his  curious  suspicion. 

"  I  suppose  that  went,  too.  I  haven't  questioned 
Sherman,  but  he  told  me  everything  was  gone. 
That,  although  the  house  was  burned  during  the 
war,  and  only  the  land  itself  remained,  is  the  only 
thing  I  regret  about  our  loss.  I  did  love  Guildford." 


CAROLINA  LEE  45 

"  But  you  never  saw  it !  "   exclaimed  Kate. 

Carolina's  eye  flashed  with  enthusiasm. 

"  I  know  that !  Nevertheless,  I  love  it  as  I  love 
no  spot  on  earth  to-day." 

There  was  a  little  pause,  full  of  awkwardness  for 
the  two  who  had  accidentally  brought  Carolina's 
loss  home  to  her.  To  Carolina  it  brought  home  a 
sense  of  real  guilt.  If  she  had  believed  that  Guild- 
ford  was  lost  she  would  have  screamed  aloud  and 
gone  mad  before  their  very  eyes.  She  was  almost 
afraid  to  juggle  with  the  truth  even  to  protect  her 
sacred  enthusiasm  from  their  profane  eyes. 

It  was  St.  Quentin  who  spoke  first. 

"  I  can  understand  wanting  a  farm  or  country 
estate  in  England,"  he  began.  "  I  myself  enjoy 
the  thought  of  thatched  roofs  and  cattle  standing 
knee-deep  in  waving,  grassy  meadows;  of  tired 
farm  horses ;  of  mugs  of  ale  and  thick  slices  of 
bread  and  the  sweat  of  honest  toil  —  " 

"  On  another  person's  brow !  "  interrupted  Caro 
lina.  "  You  want  your  farm  finished.  I  want  to 
make  mine.  I  want  to  see  it  grow.  I  almost  be 
lieve  when  it  was  complete,  that  I  would  want  to 
leave  it." 

"  You'd  want  to  leave  it  long  before  that,"  cried 
Kate. 

"  Oh,  can't  you  understand  my  idea  ?  "  cried  Caro- 


46  CAROLINA  LEE 

iina,  with  sudden  passion.  "  I  want  to  get  back  to 
Nature  and  sit  in  the  lap  of  my  mother  earth !  " 

St.  Quentin  nodded  his  head. 

"  I  do  understand,"  he  said,  "  and  apropos  of 
your  idea,  I  have  a  piece  of  news  for  you." 

Carolina  looked  at  him  distrustfully. 

"  You  will  take  that  look  back  when  you  hear," 
he  said,  with  a  trifle  of  reproach  in  his  tone.  "  I 
know  you  expect  no  help  from  any  of  us  —  dis 
couragements,  rather  —  but  I  have  only  to-day 
heard  of  business  which  calls  me  to  Maine,  and  as 
I  expect  to  be  obliged  to  wait  there  a  fortnight,  I 
will  devote  that  time  to  looking  up  a  farm  for  your 
purpose." 

"  You  will  ?  "  cried  Carolina,  in  a  faint  voice. 
Her  deception  was  already  tripping  her  up. 

Kate  looked  at  him  with  undisguised  amazement, 
mingled  with  a  little  reluctant  contempt. 

St.  Quentin's  eyes  dilated  when  he  saw  the  flash 
of  personal  interest  in  Carolina's  demeanour.  Her 
eyes  and  voice  and  manner  all  underwent  a  subtle 
but  delightful  change.  For  the  first  time,  although 
he  was  distantly  related  to  her  family  and  had 
known  her  since  childhood,  she  seemed  to  approach 
him  of  her  own  accord.  Hitherto  her  fine  sense  of 
pride  had  kept  her  individuality  inviolate.  She 
was  not  a  girl  to  permit  familiarity  even  from  an 
intimate.  She  seemed  to  hold  aloof  even  from 


CAROLINA  LEE  47 

Kate's  verbal  impertinences,  but  this  was  largely 
due  to  the  fact  that  Kate's  own  nature  was  such 
that  she  never  attempted  to  break  down  the  bar 
riers  in  deeds.  There  was  always  a  dignified  re 
serve  between  them  —  a  respect  for  each  other's 
privacy,  which  was  the  foundation  for  their  friend 
ship.  One  of  the  greatest  proofs  of  this  was  that 
neither  had  ever  thought  of  suggesting  that  they 
spend  the  night  together,  with  the  result  that  they 
had  never  exchanged  indiscreet  secrets. 

Of  the  relations  in  which  St.  Quentin  stood  to 
the  two;  neither  had  given  any  particular  thought 
until  that  moment.  Kate  surprised  the  look  in  St. 
Quentin's  eyes  and  the  response  in  Carolina's  atti 
tude.  Carolina  had  never  appeared  to  her  friend 
"  so  nearly  human,"  as  she  expressed  it  to  herself, 
as  at  that  moment.  It  gave  her  two  distinct  shocks 
of  surprise.  One,  that  Carolina  was,  for  the  first 
time  in  her  life,  really  interested  in  something,  and 
therefore  she  was  honest  in  wishing  to  be  poor  and 
left  free  to  pursue  her  idea.  The  other,  and  a  far 
more  disquieting  one,  was  the  fact  that  St.  Quentin's 
glance  at  Carolina  had  brought- a  distinct  pang  to 
Kate's  heart. 

She  regarded  both  emotions  with  dismay.  They 
threatened  an  upheaval  in  her  life. 

She  dropped  her  muff,  and,  as  St.  Quentin  did 


48  CAROLINA  LEE 

not  even  see  it,  she  stooped  hastily  for  it  herself, 
murmuring : 

"  That  let's  me  down  hard !  "  But  with  charac 
teristic  energy  she  wasted  no  time  in  repining  nor 
even  in  analyzing  her  emotions.  She  was  not  yet 
sure  whether  she  was  experiencing  wounded  vanity 
or  the  first  pangs  of  a  love-affair.  She  was  ex 
traordinarily  healthy-minded  and  instinctively  loyal. 

It  was  this  latter  feeling  which  prompted  her  to 
leave  herself  out  of  the  matter,  for  the  present,  at 
least,  and  to  be  sure  wherein  lay  her  friend's  happi 
ness  before  she  proceeded  further. 

As  she  and  St.  Quentin  left  the  house  together, 
they  met  Sherman  Lee  just  coming  up  the  steps, 
looking  pale  and  anxious. 

"  Is  Carol  at  home  ?  "  he  inquired,  eagerly,  and 
before  they  could  reply,  added,  "  and  alone?  " 

"  Yes,  she  is,"  answered  Kate,  "  and  if  you  hurry, 
you  will  be  in  time  to  get  a  cup  of  tea." 

He  thanked  them  and  ran  hastily  up  the  steps. 

"  How  I  admire  a  woman's  tact,"  said  St.  Quen 
tin,  giving  her  a  grateful  glance. 

"  How  do  you  mean  ?  "  asked  Kate  to  gain  time, 
though  the  quick  colour  flew  to  her  face. 

"  My  man's  first  idea  would  have  been  to  ask 
Sherman  what  the  matter  was  —  he  was  plainly  dis 
traught —  " 

"  And  to  offer  to  help  him !  "   said  Kate. 


CAROLINA  LEE  49 

"  Perhaps.  But  your  woman's  quickness  leaped 
ahead  of  my  blundering  intentions  with  the  instinc 
tive  knowledge  that  any  cognizance  of  his  manner, 
no  matter  how  friendly,  would  be  unwelcome. 
Therefore  you  sent  him  away  with  the  comforting 
assurance  in  his  mind  that  we  had  noticed  nothing 
amiss.  Thus,  in  an  instant,  you  saved  the  feelings 
and  kept  intact  the  amour  propre  of  two  men." 

"  That's  what  women  are  for ! "  said  Kate, 
bluntly. 


CHAPTER   V. 

BROTHER  AND  SISTER 

CAROLINA  had  left  the  drawing-room  before 
Sherman  sought  her  there,  but  on  receipt  of  a  mes 
sage  from  him  that  he  wished  to  see  her  imme 
diately  in  the  library,  she  once  more  descended  the 
stairs  to  wait  for  him. 

An  anxious  look  swept  over  her  face  as  she 
passed  the  door  of  his  room,  for  she  heard  Addie's 
voice  raised  in  shrill  accents,  and  to  hear  it  thus 
was  growing  to  be  an  every-day  affair.  She  knew 
her  brother's  sensitive,  yet  proud  and  gentle  nature, 
and  she  knew  how  difficult  his  wife's  loud  reproaches 
were  to  endure. 

Suddenly  the  door  opened  and  his  rapid  footsteps 
were  heard  running  down  the  stairs  and  hurrying  to 
the  library.  She  rose  to  meet  him  with  her  anxiety 
to  make  up  to  him  for  his  wife's  conduct  written 
in  her  face.  He  saw  the  look  and  misunderstood  it. 

"  Don't  look  at  me  like  that,  Carol !  "  he  cried, 
raising  his  hands  as  if  to  ward  off  a  blow.  "  If 
you,  too,  feel  the  loss  of  the  money  as  Addie  does 
and  you  reproach  me,  I  shall  go  mad." 

5° 


CAROLINA  LEE  51 

"  Sherman !  "  cried  his  sister.  "  Don't  insult 
me  by  the  suggestion  of  my  reproaching  you! 
Haven't  you  lost  all  your  money  as  well  as  mine? 
And  would  you  have  done  either  if  you  could  have 
helped  it?" 

Her  brother  turned  uneasily. 

"  You  don't  know  how  it  came  about?  "  he  asked. 

Carolina  shook  her  head. 

"  Ah,"  he  breathed,  "  then  I  must  wait  until  you 
have  heard  before  I  dare  trust  such  generous  state 
ments."  He  hesitated,  then  burst  out.  "  But  at 
least  you  shall  know  the  truth.  We  are  absolute 
beggars,  you  and  I,  and  Cousin  Lois,  and  wholly 
dependent  upon  Adelaide's  bounty  until  I  can  pull 
myself  together." 

Carolina  recoiled  as  if  he  had  struck  her.  A 
sudden  sickening  fear  clutched  her  heart.  Sherman 
said  "everything."  Did  he  include  Guildford? 
She  could  not  clear  her  eyes  and  voice  sufficiently 
to  mention  that  beloved  name.  Sherman  went  on, 
not  heeding  her  silence. 

"  I  know  what  you  mean,  but  it's  the  truth.  She 
acknowledges  it  as  well  as  I.  Her  money  is  intact, 
and  she  will  keep  it  so.  She  cannot  spare  any  of 
it  to  start  me  again.  I  must  trust  in  strangers." 

"  Why  strangers  ?"  asked  Carolina.  "  Have  you 
no  friends  ?  " 

"Friends!"    sneered   her  brother.      "What   do 


52  CAROLINA  LEE 

friends  do  for  a  man  when  he  is  down?  Give  him 
good  advice,  offer  to  lend  him  a  few  hundreds  for 
living  expenses,  but  trust  him  to  make  a  second 
success  after  one  failure?  Never!  Not  even  St. 
Quentin,  one  of  the  best  fellows  who  ever  lived, 
would  do  that !  " 

"  I  think  you  do  Noel  an  injustice,"  said  Caro 
lina,  quietly.  "  He  has  offered  to  help  me !  " 

Sherman  looked  quizzically  at  his  sister  and 
laughed  a  little. 

"  Has  he,  indeed  ?  "  he  said,  with  a  lift  of  his 
eyebrows. 

Carolina  noticed  his  manner  with  a  slight  inward 
start  of  surprise.  What  could  he  be  thinking  of? 
She  had  known  Noel  all  her  life,  and  not  once  had 
the  idea  Sherman's  tone  suggested  entered  her  mind. 
Noel  St.  Quentin?  She  dismissed  the  thought  with 
impatience.  Sherman  did  not  know  what  he  was 
talking  about. 

"  I  have  not  yet  told  you,"  he  broke  out  sud 
denly,  "  how  the  money  was  lost.  Have  you  no 
idea  ?  You  ought  to  know.  You  warned  me  against 
the  man,  but  I  refused  to  believe  you." 

Carolina  leaned  forward  and  her  eyes  blazed. 

"  Not  Colonel  Yancey?"   she  half-whispered. 

Her  brother  nodded. 

"  Tell  me,"  she  said,  with  white  lips. 

"There  is  very  little  to  tell.     The  whole  thing 


CAROLINA  LEE  53 

was  an  elaborate  lie  —  a  swindle  from  one  end  to 
the  other.  I  don't  believe  there  ever  was  any  oil 
on  the  lands  he  sold  us.  He  swore  there  was,  and 
bought  outright  the  man  I  sent  down  to  Texas  to 
investigate.  I  could  put  him  in  jail,  I  suppose,  but 
what  good  would  that  do  me?  Yancey  says  he  has 
used  all  the  money  in  speculation  and  lost  it,  so 
even  to  prosecute  him  would  not  get  a  penny  back. 
Now  he  has  disappeared  —  Algiers,  I  believe  they 
say.  It  makes  no  difference  where.  He  was  so 
plausible,  and  his  enthusiasm  was  so  contagious,  we 
kept  handing  over  the  money  like  born  fools.  I 
wonder  that  he  did  not  laugh  in  our  faces.  But  he 
deceived  well.  He  planned  from  the  ground  up, 
and  was  ready  with  letters  and  witnesses  of  all  sorts 
whenever  we  began  to  show  signs  of  weakening.  I 
can  see  it  all  now  with  fatal  clearness.  But  then 
he  had  me  thoroughly  blinded  by  his  own  artful 
proceedings.  He  has  wrecked  two  others  besides 
myself.  The  other  three  men  in  the  syndicate  sus 
pected  him  and  sold  out  to  Brainard  and  me.  We 
continued  to  believe  in  him  and  he  has  ruined  us." 

Carolina  listened  in  silence,  dreading,  yet  wait 
ing,  for  the  next  blow. 

"  He  could  be  the  most  charming  man  in  the 
world  when  he  wanted  to,"  Sherman  continued. 
"  I  will  admit  that  I  felt  his  spell,  but  all  the  time 
there  was  something  in  his  face  which  I  distrusted. 


54  CAROLINA  LEE 

First  I  thought  it  was  his  shifty  eyes,  and  then,  as 
if  he  had  read  my  thoughts,  he  would  meet  my 
glance  with  perfect  candour  and  frankness  and  the 
craft  would  go  to  his  lips,  and  when  I  looked  again 
for  it,  I  would  be  disarmed  by  the  sincerity  of  his 
smile,  so  I  was  left  to  fall  back  on  my  Doctor  Fell 
dislike  of  him,  which  always  attacked  me  most 
strongly  when  I  was  not  in  his  magnetic  presence." 

Sherman  looked  at  his  sister  expectantly.  He 
noticed  for  the  first  time  how  pale  she  was.  Her 
own  recollections  of  Colonel  Yancey,  his  ceaseless 
pursuit  of  her,  his  intimacy  with  her  father  in  Paris, 
her  fear  that  he  knew  of  the  Lees'  great  wish  to 
restore  Guildford  were  all  gathering  themselves  to 
gether  into  a  horrible  certainty.  She  was  obliged  to 
listen  with  an  effort  to  her  brother's  next  words. 

"  I've  always  thought  that  he  tried  to  make  love 
to  you,  Carol.  Did  he?  " 

"  I  believe  there  was  something  of  the  sort  sug 
gested,"  answered  his  sister,  carelessjy.  She  did 
not  choose  to  admit  that  Colonel  Yancey  had  pro 
posed  to  her  regularly  ever  since  his  wife  died,  and 
that  he  had  pursued  her  with  letters  as  far  as  India 
itself. 

A  silence  fell  between  them.  It  struck  Sherman 
Lee  as  most  extraordinary  that  his  sister  should 
evince  no  more  curiosity  or  even  interest  in  the 
loss  of  her  fortune  than  she  had  hitherto  expressed. 


CAROLINA  LEE  55 

He  felt  that  possibly  she  was  only  holding  herself 
in  check. 

"  You  said  a  moment  ago,"  she  began  so  sud 
denly  and  in  such  a  different  tone  that  her  brother 
nerved  himself  for  the  explosion  he  felt  sure  was 
at  hand,  "  that  we  were  both  —  you  and  I  —  de 
pendent  upon  Addie.  Just  what  did  you  mean?" 

"  Simply  that  neither  of  us  has  a  dollar  of  ready 
money." 

"  That  is  all  very  well  for  you,"  pursued  Caro 
lina,  in  a  low  voice,  "  but  for  me  to  be  Adelaide's 
guest  for  even  a  day  would  be  intolerable.  I  shall 
sell  my  jewels  and  accept  Kate  Howard's  invitation 
to  spend  a  few  weeks  with  her  until  I  find  some 
thing  to  do.  I  made  Cousin  Lois  go  to  Boston  to 
see  her  niece.  I  feel  that  I  ought  to  tell  you  how 
glad  —  how  more  than  glad  I  am  that  the  money 
is  gone.  I  never  wanted  it!  I  never  liked  it!  But 
Cousin  Lois!  What  will  she  do?  Oh,  Sherman! 
If  only  I  had  been  a  man,  too!  " 

"  If  only  you  had  been  a  man  instead  of  me,"  he 
cried,  "  you  never  would  have  lost  it.  I  always 
made  money  when  I  took  your  advice.  I  always 
lost  it  when  I  went  against  you." 

Carolina's  face  glowed.  She  felt  equal  now  to 
putting  the  question. 

"  What  has  become  of  Guildford  ?  "  she  asked, 
in  a  low  tone. 


56  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  Guildf ord  ?  "    he  repeated,  to  gain  time. 

At  the  mere  mention  of  that  beloved  name  Caro 
lina's  face  was  aflame.  Her  great  blue  eyes  flashed 
and  she  seemed  illumined  from  within.  Her  brother 
stared  at  her  with  astonishment  and  a  growing  un 
easiness. 

"  Yes,  Guildford !  "  she  whispered.  "  Oh,  Sher 
man!  I  have  been  so  afraid  to  ask.  Tell  me,  is 
that  lost,  too?" 

The  man's  eyes  fell  before  her  accusing  gaze. 

"  Not  —  not  entirely,"  he  stammered.  "I  —  I 
raised  money  on  it  —  I  forget  just  how  much  —  I 
will  investigate  —  I  had  no  idea  you  cared  —  it  is 
deserted  —  the  house  burned,  you  know  —  " 

He  broke  off,  as  he  realized  his  sister's  gather 
ing  anger. 

"  Stop !  "  she  said.  "  I  have  not  uttered  one 
complaint  because  you  lost  our  money,  nor  would 
I  complain  at  the  loss  of  Guildford.  You  could 
not  know  how  I  cared  for  the  place,  because  no  one 
knew  it.  I  never  even  told  Cousin  Lois.  But  don't, 
if  you  love  me,  belittle  the  place  or  try  to  excuse 
your  having  mortgaged  it  because  it  had  no  value 
in  your  eyes!  I  know  the  house  is  gone,  but  the 
ground  is  there,  and  we  Lees  have  owned  it  since 
we  bought  it  from  the  Indians.  That  same  ground 
that  the  Cherokees  used  to  tread  with  moccasined 
feet  has  been  in  our  family  ever  since  they  owned 


CAROLINA  LEE  57 

it,  and  the  dream  of  my  life  has  been  to  restore 
the  house  and  to  live  there  —  to  marry  from  Guild- 
ford  and  to  give  my  children  recollections  that  you 
and  I  were  denied,  and  of  which  nothing  can  take 
the  place.  Oh,  Sherman,  doesn't  it  fairly  break 
your  heart  to  think  that  we  are  the  only  generation 
that  Guildford  skipped?  Father  remembered  it  and 
loved  it  beyond  words  to  express." 

"  And  you  are  like  him,"  said  her  brother,  gloom 
ily.  "  I  am  like  my  mother.  She  never  cared  for 
Guildford,  and  refused  to  let  father  restore  it.  It 
was  she  who  urged  him  into  diplomacy  —  " 

"  Where  he  distinguished  himself,"  cried  Caro 
lina,  loyally. 

"Yes,  where  he. distinguished  himself,  as  all  the 
Lees  have  done  except  me !  "  he  said,  bitterly. 

"  It's  your  name !  "  cried  Carolina,  passionately. 
"  What  could  you  expect  with  those  two  names 
pulling  you  in  opposite  directions!  Why  did  they 
ever  name  you,  a  Southern  man,  Sherman?  " 

"  Father  named  you,  and  mother  named  me," 
answered  her  brother.  "  I  have  heard  them  say 
that  it  was  all  planned  before  either  of  us  was 
born.  Then,  too,  you  must  remember  that  —  well, 
that  I  am  not  as  enthusiastic  over  the  traditions  of 
the  Lee  family  as  you  are.  I  think  that  my  lean 
ings  are  all  toward  the  de  Cliffords,  if  anything." 

"  It's  only  fair,"  said  Carolina,  with  justice,  "  that 


58  CAROLINA  LEE 

you  should  be  like  mother  and  love  her  family  best. 
Only  —  only  I  am  glad  my  name  is  Carolina!" 

Her  brother  bent  down  and  kissed  her  flushed 
face. 

"  And  I  am  glad,  too,  little  sister,  for  you  are 
a  veritable  Lee,  and  one  to  be  proud  of." 

Carolina  felt  herself  grow  warm  in  every  fibre 
of  her  being  over  the  first  compliment  which  had 
ever  reached  her  heart. 

Sherman  was  still  holding  her  hand,  and  she 
pressed  his  fingers  gratefully. 

"  I  will  look  up  the  papers  to-morrow,  and  let 
you  know  the  moment  I  discover  anything.  I  can 
easily  guess  what  your  plan  is,  but  —  without 
money?  " 

Carolina  laughed  strangely. 

"  Thank  you,  brother.  And  in  the  meantime  I 
shall  go  to  stay  with  Kate." 

Again  the  slight  lift  to  Sherman's  eyebrows. 

"  You  will  doubtless  be  happier  there,"  he  said, 
quietly. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  STRANGER 

BUT  when  Carolina  was  comfortably  established 
in  the  suite  of  rooms  which  Kate  had  joyfully 
placed  at  her  disposal,  she  found  that  she  could 
neither  fix  her  attention  on  the  new  decorations  of 
which  Kate  was  so  inordinately  proud,  nor  could 
she  wrench  her  mind  from  the  subject  of  Guildford. 

She  had  been  so  stunned  by  the  knowledge,  not 
that  the  estate  was  mortgaged,  but  that  it  had  been 
parted  with  so  lightly,  with  little  thought  and  less 
regret,  that  she  had  not  been  able,  nor  had  she 
wished  to  express  to  Sherman  her  intense  feeling 
in  the  matter.  The  more  she  thought,  the  more 
she  believed  that  some  turn  of  the  wheel  would 
bring  Guildford  back.  If  it  were  only  mortgaged 
and  not  sold,  she  felt  that  her  yearning  was  so 
strong  she  even  dared  to  think  of  assuming  the  in 
debtedness  and  taking  years,  if  need  be,  to  free  the 
place  and  restore  the  home  of  her  fathers. 

Her  intimacy  with  her  father  had  steeped  her 
ir*  the  traditions  of  Guildford.  The  mere  fact  of 

59 


60  CAROLINA  LEE 

their  having  lived  abroad  seemed  to  have  accentu 
ated  in  Captain  Lee's  mind  his  love  for  his  native 
State,  and  no  historian  knew  better  the  history  of 
South  Carolina  than  did  this  little  expatriated 
American  girl,  Carolina  Lee.  By  the  hour  these 
two  would  pace  the  long  drawing-rooms  and  dis 
cuss  this  and  that  famous  act  or  chivalric  deed, 
Carolina's  inflammable  patriotism  readily  bursting 
into  an  ardent  flame  from  a  spark  from  her  father's 
scintillant  descriptions.  She  fluently  translated 
everything  into  French  for  her  governess,  and  to 
this  day,  Mademoiselle  Beaupre  thinks  that  every 
large  city  in  the  Union  is  situated  in  South  Caro 
lina,  that  the  President  lives  in  Charleston,  and  that 
Fort  Sumter  protects  everything  in  America  ex 
cept  the  Pacific  Coast. 

Carolina  knew  and  named  over  all  the  great 
names  in  the  State's  history.  She  could  roll  them 
out  in  her  pretty  little  half-foreign  English,  — 
the  Rutledges,  the  Pinckneys,  the  Gadsdens,  the 
Heywards,  the  Allstons,  the  Hugers,  the  Legares, 
the  Lowndes,  the  Guerards,  the  Moultries,  the 
Manigaults,  the  Dessesseurs,  the  Rhetts,  the 
Mazycks,  the  Barnwells,  the  Elliotts,  the  Harles- 
tons,  the  Pringles,  the  Landgravesmiths,  the  Cal- 
houns,  the  Ravenels,  —  she  knew  .them  all.  The 
Lees  were  related  to  many  of  them.  She  knew  the 
deeds  of  Marion's  men  as  well  as  most  men  know 


CAROLINA  LEE  61 

of  battles  in  which  they  have  fought.  She  knew  of 
the  treaties  with  the  Indians,  those  which  were 
broken  and  those  which  were  kept.  She  had  been 
told  of  some  of  the  great  families  which  even 
boasted  Indian  blood,  and  were  proud  to  admit  that 
in  their  veins  flowed  the  blood  of  men  who  once 
were  chiefs  of  tribes  of  savage  red  men.  She  found 
this  difficult  to  believe  from  a  purely  physical  preju 
dice,  but  her  father  had  assured  her  that  it  was  true. 
In  vain  she  tried  to  interest  herself  in  Kate's 
plans  for  her  amusement.  In  vain  she  attempted 
to  fix  her.  attention  on  the  white  and  silver  deco 
rations  of  her  boudoir,  all  done  in  scenes  from 
"  Lohengrin."  Instead  she  found  herself  dreaming 
of  the  ruins  of  an  old  home;  of  the  chimneys,  per 
haps,  being  partially  left;  of  a  double  avenue  of 
live-oaks,  which  led  from  the  gate  to  the  door  and 
circled  the  house  on  all  sides;  of  fallow  fields, 
grown  up  in  rank  shrubbery ;  of  palmetto  and  mag 
nolia  trees,  interspersed  with  neglected  bushes  of 
crepe  myrtle,  opopinax,  sweet  olives,  and  azaleas; 
of  the  mocking-birds,  the  nonpareils,  and  blue 
birds  making  the  air  tremulous  with  sound;  of 
broken  hedges  of  Cherokee  roses  twisting  in  and 
out  of  the  embrace  of  the  honeysuckle  and  yellow 
jessamine.  Beyond,  she  could  picture  to  herself 
how  the  pine-trees,  left  to  themselves  for  forty  years, 
had  grown  into  great  forests  of  impenetrable  gloom, 


62  CAROLINA  LEE 

and  she  longed  for  their  perfumed  breath  with 
a  great  and  mighty  longing.  She  felt,  rather  than 
knew,  how  the  cedar  hedges  had  grown  out  of  all 
their  symmetry,  and  how  raggedly  they  rose  against 
the  sky-line.  She  knew  where  the  ground  fell  away 
on  one  side  into  the  marshes  which  hid  the  river  — 
the  river,  salt  as  the  ocean,  and  with  the  tide  of  the 
great  Atlantic  to  give  it  dignity  above  its  inland 
fellows.  She  knew  of  the  deer,  the  bear  even, 
which  furnished  hunters  with  an  opportunity  to 
test  their  nerve  in  the  wildness  beyond,  and  of  the 
wild  turkeys,  quail,  terrapin,  and  oysters  to  be 
found  so  near  that  one  might  also  say  they  grew 
on  the  place.  In  her  imagination  the  rows  upon 
rows  of  negro  cabins  were  rebuilt  and  whitewashed 
anew.  The  smoke  even  curled  lazily  from  the  chim 
neys  of  the  great  house,  as  she  dreamed  it.  Dogs 
lay  upon  the  wide  verandas;  songs  and  laughter 
resounded  from  among  the  trimmed  shrubbery,  and 
once  more  the  great  estate  of  Guildford  was  owned 
and  lived  upon  by  the  Lees. 

Filled  so  full  of  these  ideas  that  she  could  think 
of  nothing  else,  she  sprang  to  her  feet  and  decided 
to  see  Sherman  without  losing  another  day.  She 
would  put  ruthless  questions  to  him  and  see  if  any 
power  under  Heaven  could  bring  Guildford  within 
her  eager  grasp.  What  a  life  work  would  lie  before 
her,  if  it  could  be  accomplished!  Europe,  with  all 


CAROLINA  LEE  63 

its  history  and  glamour,  faded  into  a  thin  and 
hazy  memory  before  the  living1,  vital  enthusiasm 
which  filled  her  heart  almost  to  the  point  of  burst 
ing. 

It  was,  indeed,  the  intense  longing  of  her  ardent 
soul  for  a  home.  All  her  life  had  been  spent  in 
a  country  not  her  own,  upon  which  her  eager  love 
could  not  expend  itself.  It  was  as  if  she  had  been 
called  upon  to  love  a  stepmother,  while  her  own 
mother,  divorced,  yet  beloved,  lived  and  yearned 
for  her  in  a  foreign  land. 

It  was  four  o'clock  on  a  crisp  January  day  when 
Carolina  found  herself  in  the  throng  on  Fifth 
Avenue.  It  was  the  first  pleasant  day  after  a  week 
of  wretched  weather,  and  the  whole  world  seemed 
to  have  welcomed  it. 

Carolina  was  all  in  gray,  with  a  gray  chinchilla 
muff.  Her  colour  glowed,  her  eyes  flashed,  as  she 
walked  along  with  her  chin  tilted  upward  so  that 
many  who  saw  her  carried  in  their  minds  for  the 
rest  of  the  day  the  recollection  of  the  girl  who  had 
formed  so  attractive  a  picture. 

Suddenly  and  directly  in  front  of  her,  Carolina 
saw  a  young  woman,  arm  in  arm  with  a  tall  man, 
whose  broad-brimmed,  soft  felt  hat,  added  to  a 
certain  nameless  quality  in  his  clothes  and  type  of 
face,  proclaimed  him  to  be  a  Southerner.  They 
were  laughing  and  chatting  with  the  blitheness  of 


64  CAROLINA  LEE 

two  children,  frankly  staring-  at  the  panorama  of 
Fifth  Avenue  on  a  bright  day.  If  the  whim  seized 
them  to  stop  and  gaze  into  shop  windows,  they 
did  it  with  the  same  disregard  of  appearances 
which  induced  them  to  link  arms  and  not  to  notice 
the  attention  they  attracted.  No  one  could  possi 
bly  mistake  them  for  anything  but  what  they  were 
—  bride  and  groom. 

Having  reached  her  brother's  house,  Carolina 
paused  for  a  moment  in  an  unpremeditated  rush 
of  interest  in  the  young  couple.  Something  in  the 
man's  appearance  stirred  some  vague  memory,  but 
even  as  she  searched  in  her  mind  for  the  clue,  she 
saw  an  expression  of  abject  terror  spread  over  the 
young  bride's  face,  and  pulling  her  husband  madly 
after  her  by  the  arm  to  which  she  still  clung,  she 
darted  across  the  walk  and  into  a  waiting  cab.  Her 
husband,  after  a  hasty  glance  in  the  direction  she 
had  indicated,  plunged  after  her,  and  the  wise 
cabby,  scenting  haste,  if  not  danger,  without  wait 
ing  for  orders,  lashed  his  horse,  the  cab  lurched 
forward  and  was  quickly  swallowed  up  in  the  line 
of  moving  vehicles. 

This  had  necessarily  created  a  small  commotion 
in  the  avenue,  and  a  tall  man  who  had  also  been 
walking  south  behind  Carolina  and  who  would 
soon  have  met  the  young  couple  face  to  face, 
chanced  to  raise  his  head  at  the  crack  of  the  cab- 


CAROLINA  LEE  65 

man's  whip,  and  thus  caught  a  glimpse  of  the 
bride's  face  out  of  the  window  of  the  cab. 

Instantly,  with  an  exclamation,  he  looked  wildly 
for  another  cab.  None  was  at  hand,  but  Sherman 
Lee's  dog-cart  stood  at  the  curb,  and  Carolina  had 
paused  on  the  lowest  step  of  the  house  and  was 
looking  at  him.  There  was  desperate  anxiety  in 
his  face. 

"  May  I  use  your  carriage,  madam  ?  I  promise 
not  to  injure  the  horse !  " 

It  was  the  strange  young  man  who  had  stood  in 
the  balcony  all  during  the  opera  of  "  Faust." 

Carolina  never  knew  why  she  did  it,  but  some 
thing  told  her  that  this  young  man's  cause  was 
just.  In  spite  of  the  pleading  beauty  of  the  young 
couple,  she  arrayed  herself  instinctively  on  their 
pursuer's  side. 

"  Yes,  yes !  "   she  cried.     "  Follow  them !  " 

He  sprang  in,  and  the  groom  loosed  the  horse's 
head  and  climbed  nimbly  to  his  place.  A  moment 
more  and  the  dog-cart  was  lost  to  view. 

Most  of  the  good  which  is  done  in  this  world 
is  the  result  of  impulse,  yet  so  false  is  our  training, 
that  the  first  thing  we  do  after  having  been  be 
trayed  into  a  perfectly  natural  action  is  to  regret 
it. 

The  moment  Carolina  came  to  herself  and  real 
ized  what  she  had  done,  a  great  uneasiness  took 


66  CAROLINA  LEE 

possession  of  her.  She  had  no  excuse  to  offer  even 
to  herself.  She  felt  that  she  had  done  an  im 
measurably  foolish  thing  and  that  she  deserved  to 
take  the  consequences,  no  matter  what  they  might 
be.  If  the  stranger  injured  Sherman's  favourite 
horse,  that  would  be  bad  enough,  but  the  worst  re 
sult  was  the  mortification  her  rash  act  had  left  in 
her  own  mind.  It  is  hard  for  the  most  humble- 
minded  to  admit  that  one  has  been  a  fool,  and  to 
the  proud  it  is  well-nigh  impossible. 

But  Carolina  admitted  it  with  secret  viciousness, 
directed,  let  it  be  said,  entirely  against  herself.  In 
her  innermost  heart  she  realized  that  she  had 
yielded,  without  even  the  decent  struggle  prompted 
by  self-respect,  to  the  compelling  influence  of  a 
strong  personality.  This  unknown  man  had  wrested 
her  consent  from  her  by  a  power  she  never  had  felt 
before. 

At  first  she  decided  that  it  was  her  duty  to  tell 
her  brother  at  once  what  she  had  done.  Then  she 
realized  that,  in  that  case,  they  must  both  wait  some 
little  time  before  the  dog-cart  could  possibly  be  ex 
pected  to  return,  and  Sherman  would  no  doubt  ex 
haust  himself  in  an  anxiety  which,  if  the  horse  re 
turned  in  safety,  could  be  avoided.  She  therefore 
compromised  on  a  bold  expedient. 

"  Sherman,"    she    said,    when    she    found    her 


CAROLINA  LEE  67 

brother,  "  I  saw  the  dog-cart  at  the  door;  were  you 
going  out  ?  " 

"  I  was,  but  since  I  came  in,  I  have  decided  dif 
ferently.  Ring,  that's  a  good  girl,  and  tell  Powell 
to  see  that  the  horse  is  well  exercised  and  put  him 
up." 

"  I  saw  Marie  in  the  hall.  I'll  just  send  her  with 
the  message  to  Powell,"  said  Carolina.  "  There  is 
no  doubt  in  my  mind,"  she  murmured,  as  she  went 
out,  "  that  the  horse  will  be  well  exercised." 

She  sent  word  by  Marie  that  when  Powell  re 
turned  he  was  to  be  told  to  see  to  the  condition  of 
the  horse  himself  by  Miss  Carol's  express  orders, 
and  then  to  report  to  Miss  Carol  herself  privately. 

But  these  precautions  were  taken  in  vain,  for 
not  ten  minutes  had  elapsed  before  Sherman  was 
summoned  to  the  drawing-room,  there  to  meet  the 
stranger,  who  introduced  himself,  told  a  most  manly 
and  straightforward  story,  and,  having  produced  an 
excellent  impression  of  sincerity  on  his  host,  left 
with  profuse  apologies. 

Sherman  returned  to  his  sister  with  a  quizzical 
smile  on  his  face. 

"  Carol,"  he  said,  "  what  have  you  been  doing?  " 

Carolina's  reply  was  prompt  and  to  the  point. 

"  I  own  to  being  reckless,  of  trying  to  conceal 
my  recklessness,  under  a  mistaken  sense  that  I  was 
cler*r  enough  to  cover  my  tracks.  I  vainly  en- 


68  CAROLINA  LEE 

• 

deavoured  to  spare  you  an  hour's  anxiety,  and  I 
feel  that  I  am  a  fool  for  my  pains." 

Her  brother  laughed. 

"  The  man  is  unmistakably  a  gentleman.  He  is 
in  deep  trouble  over  a  young  woman,  not  his  sister, 
who  has  run  away,  presumably  with  a  man.  He 
tried  to  trace  them  and  failed." 

"Failed?" 

"  Failed.  If  she  is  his  wife,  may  God  help  her 
when  he  catches  her,  for  there  was  danger  in  that 
man's  eye.  But  his  pride  forbade  him  to  give  me 
more  than  the  bare  facts  necessary  to  explain  his 
extraordinary  action  in  surprising  you  into  lending 
him  my  horse." 

"  Was  that  the  way  he  put  it  ?  "   asked  Carolina. 

"  It  was." 

"  He  is  a  gentleman !  " 

She  waited  a  moment,  hesitated,  and  then  said : 

"  Did  he  say  anything  else,  anything  about  —  " 

"  About  the  woman  in  the  case  ?  Not  a  word 
about  anything  more  than  I  have  told  you.  He 
seemed  to  take  it  for  granted,  however,  that  you 
were  my  wife." 

"  And  didn't  you  deny  it  ?  "  demanded  Carolina, 
with  such  spirit  that  she  surprised  herself.  She  felt 
her  cheeks  grow  hot. 

"  He  didn't  give  me  time." 

"  And  you  let  him  go,  still  thinking  it  ?  " 


CAROLINA  LEE  69 

"  I  didn't  let  him  do  anything.  He  mastered  the 
situation,  and  carried  it  off  with  such  ease  that  I 
almost  felt  grateful  to  him  for  borrowing  the  dog 
cart." 

Carolina  opened  her  lips  to  say  something,  then 
changed  her  mind. 

"  It  is  of  no  importance,"  she  said  lightly.  But 
there  was  an  odd  sinking  at  her  heart  which  belied 
her  words.  She  had  never  believed  in  love  at  first 
sight,  yet  she  had  watched  this  stranger  at  a  dis 
tance  all  one  evening,  and  at  their  first  meeting  in 
the  throng  leaving  the  opera,  she  had  not  been  mis 
taken  in  the  look  of  —  well,  of  welcome,  she  had 
felt.  Their  second  meeting  had  been  equally  strik 
ing,  and  Carolina  calmly  said  to  herself  that  she 
would  meet  this  man  again,  and  the  third  time  it 
would  be  even  more  strange.  She  was  so  sure  of 
this  that  she  would  not  allow  her  mind  to  be  dis 
turbed  by  the  two  blundering  conclusions  Sherman 
had  forced  —  one  that  the  man  was  in  pursuit  of 
a  runaway  wife  or  love  and  the  other  that  she  was 
the  wife  of  the  master  of  the  horse.  She  was  so 
sure  of  her  own  premises  that  she  overlooked  the 
possibility  that  the  stranger  might  have  put  the 
supposition  tentatively  to  Sherman  and  had  been 
misled  by  her  brother's  lack  of  denial. 

In  fact,  Carolina  at  this  time  was  a  very  self- 
centred  young  woman.  It  was  so  of  necessity.  She 


70  CAROLINA  LEE 

had  never  been  taught  self-denial,  nor  permitted  to 
be  unselfish.  Her  father  and  mother,  in  yielding 
to  every  whim,  had  quite  overlooked  the  fact  that 
the  pretty  child's  character  needed  discipline,  so 
that  Carolina  was  selfish  without  knowing  it. 
Quite  unconsciously  she  placed  her  own  wishes 
before  those  of  any  other,  and  regarded  the  carry 
ing  of  her  point  as  the  proper  end  to  strive  for. 
No  one  had  ever  taught  her  differently.  Cousin 
Lois  had  pampered  her  even  more  than  her  parents 
had  done,  and  when  she  became  dissatisfied  with 
life,  offered,  as  a  remedy,  change  of  scene. 

Now  the  girl  possessed  an  inherently  unselfish 
nature,  and  for  this  reason  —  that  she  never  had 
been  called  upon  to  sacrifice  her  own  will  —  she  was 
not  happy.  Although  she  possessed  much  that 
young  girls  envied  in  wealth  and  the  freedom  to 
travel,  the  two  things  which  would  have  made  her 
happiest,  a  permanent  home  and  some  one  —  father 
or  mother  or  lover  —  upon  whom  to  lavish  her 
heart's  best  love,  were  lacking.  Not  being  of  an 
analytical  turn  of  mind,  she  had  never  realized  her 
lack,  until  suddenly  she  had  been  given  a  glimpse 
of  both,  and  then  both  had  been  snatched  away. 

Opposition  always  made  the  girl  more  spirited. 
Guildford  lost  was  more  to  be  desired  than  Guild- 
ford  idle  and  only  waiting  for  her  to  reclaim  and 
restore  it.  This  dominant  stranger  interested  in 


CAROLINA  LEE  71 

another  woman  —  Carolina  lifted  her  chin.  It  was 
her  way. 

Her  brother  saw  it  and  smiled.  It  was  a  pretty 
trick  she  had  inherited  from  the  Lees.  It  was  a 
gage  of  battle.  It  betokened  unusual  interest.  It 
meant  that  their  blood  was  fired  and  their  pride 
roused.  He  mistook  the  cause,  that  was  all.  He 
was  so  engrossed  in  his  own  thoughts  and  so 
pleased  by  his  efforts  to  gain  something  which  his 
sister  actually  desired,  that  he  had  forgotten  the 
episode  of  the  strange  visitor.  So  that  when  he 
said: 

"  So  that  is  the  way  you  feel,  is  it  ?  "  Carolina 
started  violently  and  blushed.  She  was  diplomatic 
enough  to  make  no  reply,  so  that  Sherman's  next 
remark  saved  her  from  further  embarrassment. 

"Do  you  really  care  for  Guildford  so  much?" 

"  How  do  you  know  I  am  thinking  of  Guild- 
ford?"  asked  Carolina,  quickly.  "I  have  not 
spoken  of  it." 

"  Ah,"  said  her  brother,  lifting  his  hand,  "  I  can 
read  your  thoughts.  I  notice  that  you  only  have 
that  look  on  your  face  when  you  are  thinking  of 
something  you  love.  But  I  wouldn't  waste  such 
a  blush  on  a  measure  of  cold  earth,  even  if  they 
are  your  ancestral  acres." 

"  My  ancestral  acres !  "  repeated  Carolina,  softly. 


72  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  How  beautiful  that  sounds !  Oh,  Sherman,  tell 
me  if  we  can  save  them !  " 

Sherman  hesitated  a  moment  and  knit  his  brow. 
Then  he  lifted  his  head  and  looked  Carolina  in  the 
eyes. 

"  I  will  do  what  I  can,"  he  said.  "  You  may  be 
sure  of  that." 

Carolina  had  all  a  strong  woman's  belief  in  the 
power  of  a  man  to  do  anything  he  chose.  His 
words  were  not  particularly  reassuring,  but  his 
manner,  as  she  afterwards  thought  it  over,  was 
vaguely  comforting. 

It  was  the  more  comforting,  because,  deep  down 
in  her  heart,  she  intended  to  supplement  his  efforts, 
weak  or  strong,  and  win  victory  even  from  defeat. 

Guildford  ? 

She  would  have  it! 


CHAPTER   VII. 

MORTAL  MIND 

THEREFORE,  when  the  blow  fell  and  Sherman  had 
written  her  a  letter,  not  daring1  to  see  her,  telling 
her  as  gently  as  he  could,  but  with  an  air  of  finality 
which  there  was  no  mistaking,  that  the  mortgage 
on  Guildford  had  been  bought  and  foreclosed  by 
Colonel  Yancey,  and  therefore,  in  his  opinion,  it 
was  lost  to  the  Lees  for  ever,  Carolina  realized  for 
the  first  time  how  tenacious  had  been  her  hold  on 
the  hope  of  possessing  it.  In  an  instant,  with  her 
woman's  instinct,  she  saw  what  it  had  taken  years 
for  Sherman  to  discover.  Colonel  Yancey  had,  as 
Carolina  found,  learned  that  it  was  Captain  Lee's 
and  Carolina's  dearest  wish  to  restore  Guildford. 
The  two  men  had  talked  intimately.  Both  were 
Southern,  although  Colonel  Yancey  was  a  Georgian, 
but  with  the  confidence  in  each  other's  integrity, 
which  is  typical  of  most  Southern  men,  and  which 
has  led  to  the  ruin  of  many  an  honest  man,  Captain 
Lee  confided  his  hopes  to  Colonel  Yancey,  who 

73 


74  CAROLINA  LEE 

profited  by  them  to  secure  Guildford  for  himself, 
and  thus  gain  a  hold  over  Carolina. 

It  was  so  easy  to  do  this,  in  the  most  ordinary 
business  manner,  with  Sherman  both  unsuspicious 
of  him  and  his  sister's  love  for  the  place,  that  at 
times  Colonel  Yancey  almost  had  the  grace  to  be 
ashamed  of  himself. 

Carolina  saw  the  whole  vile  plot,  and  the  shock 
and  disappointment  put  her  fairly  beside  herself. 
She  was  so  sure  that  she  had  got  at  the  root  of 
the  matter  that  she  at  once  disbelieved  that 
part  of  Sherman's  story  which  said  that  Colonel 
Yancey  was  a  fugitive  from  justice.  If  he  had 
cheated  this  syndicate,  he  had  done  it  in  such  a 
manner  that  it  left  no  illegal  entanglements,  and  she 
was  sure  that  he  was  free  to  return  to  this  country 
whenever  he  chose.  If  not,  her  whole  theory  fell 
to  the  ground,  for  she  knew  that  Colonel  Yancey 
would  not  dare  to  offer  her  a  reputation  which  the 
law  had  power  to  smirch. 

It  never  was  Carolina's  way  to  wax  confidential, 
but  one  day  Kate  surprised  her  in  a  particularly 
desperate  mood.  Carolina  was  in  her  habit,  wait 
ing  for  her  horse  to  be  brought  around,  and  when 
Kate  entered,  she  was  walking  up  and  down  the 
peaceful  blue  and  silver  boudoir  like  an  outraged 
lioness. 

"  It's  no  use,  Kate !  "   she  cried,  when  her  friend 


CAROLINA  LEE  75 

began  to  remonstrate.  "  I  have  come  to  the  end 
of  my  rope.  You  don't  know  the  truth  because  I 
have  been  afraid  to  tell  you.  You  couldn't  have 
understood  if  I  had  told  you.  Even  if  I  should 
sit  down  now  and  spend  a  whole  day  trying  to  ex 
plain  why  I  adored  Guildford  and  why  I  am  so 
upset  over  its  loss,  at  the  end  of  the  time  you  would 
only  shake  your  head  and  say,  '  Poor  Carolina,' 
without  in  the  least  understanding  me.  No  one 
ever  did  understand  about  Guildford  except  dear 
Daddy,  and  since  he  died,  I've  been  afraid  to  let 
even  God  know  how  much  I  wanted  it,  because  I 
knew  if  He  did,  He  would  take  it  away  from  me! 
He  takes  everything  away  from  me  that  I  love! 
That  is  His  way  of  showing  His  vaunted  kindness. 
He  is  indeed  a  God  of  vengeance !  He  punishes  His 
children  as  no  earthly  father  would  be  mean  enough 
to  do.  Oh,  I  won't  hush!  But  the  end  has  come, 
Kate,  to  even  God's  power  to  hurt  me.  I  have 
nothing  left  for  Him  to  take.  Let  Him  be  satisfied 
with  His  revenge.  I  wouldn't  care  if  He  took  my 
life  now,  so  He  is  practically  powerless!  He  has 
reached  His  limit !  " 

"  Oh,  Carolina !  "  almost  screamed  Kate.  "  Do 
be  careful  how  you  blaspheme!  Goodness  knows 
I  am  not  religious,  but  I  am  a  member  of  the 
Church  and  I  am  not  wicked !  " 

"  You  have  never  suffered,  Kate,  or  you  could 


76  CAROLINA  LEE 

bear,  not  only  to  hear,  but  to  say  worse  things  than 
I  am  saying.  If  you  only  knew  how  much  worse 
my  thoughts  are !  " 

"But  you  will  be  punished  for  them,  Carolina! 
I  —  I  don't  like  to  preach,  but  God  always  sends  af 
flictions  to  those  who  defy  Him!  " 

"  I  wouldn't  care  if  He  killed  me !  "  cried  Caro 
lina,  furiously.  "  I  have  nothing  left  to  live  for. 
I  hope  I  shall  never  come  back  alive  from  this 
ride!" 

When  she  had  rushed  from  the  room,  leaving  that 
terrible  wish  in  Kate's  memory,  Kate  shivered  with 
apprehensions. 

"  Something  awful  will  happen  to  Carolina !  " 
she  muttered.  "  I  never  knew  it  to  fail !  "  But  her 
eyes  filled  with  tears.  "  What  if  1 liad  to  bear  what 
she  has !  "  she  thought.  "  Loss  of  father,  mother, 
home,  and  fortune !  Poor  girl !  Poor  girl !  " 

She  had  intended  to  go  out,  but  some  inner  voice 
told  her  to  wait.  Carolina's  dreadful  mood  and 
reckless  words  haunted  her.  She  went  restlessly 
from  room  to  room,  and  anxiously  listened  for 
sounds  of  her  return.  And  so  keenly  was  she  ex 
pecting  a  misfortune  that  when  the  telephone-bell 
rang  sharply,  it  calmed  her  at  once. 

"  It  has  happened !  "  she  said  to  herself,  as  she 
flew  to  answer. 

The  message  was  that  Carolina  had  been  thrown 


CAROLINA  LEE  77 

from  her  horse  and  dragged.  They  were  bringing 
her  home. 

"  I  knew  it !  "  said  Kate.  "  She  was  in  too  awful 
a  mood  to  wear  spurs  with  Astra.  I  ought  to  have 
made  her  take  them  off." 

Carolina  was  still  unconscious  when  they  brought 
her  in.  Kate  caught  a  glimpse  of  her  still,  white 
face  as  they  carried  her  up-stairs.  She  waited  with 
feverish  impatience  for  the  doctor's  verdict,  with 
her  mind  full  of  Carolina's  awful  words.  "  I  knew 
it !  "  she  kept  whispering  to  herself  through  a  rain 
of  tears.  "  God  always  gets  even  with  people  who 
dare  Him  to  do  His  worst! " 

It  seemed  hours  before  Doctor  Colfax  finally 
came  out,  with  his  refined  face  full  of  pain. 

"  Is  she  dead  ?  "  whispered  Kate,  catching  at  his 
arm.  He  shook  his  head. 

"Disfigured?"  continued  Kate,  with  growing 
anxiety. 

"  Worse !  "  said  the  doctor.  "  She  has  broken 
her  hip  badly.  Even  if  she  recovers,  she  will  be 
lamed  for  life!  " 

Kate  covered  her  mouth  to  repress  a  scream. 

Beautiful  Carolina  lamed  for  life! 

"  Crutches  ?  "    whispered  Kate. 

"  I  am  afraid  so!  "  said  the  doctor,  with  a  deep 
sigh.  "  I  am  going  to  have  a  consultation.  We 


78  CAROLINA  LEE 

will  do  everything  we  can  to  preserve  her  health  — • 
and  her  beauty,  poor  child !  " 

Kate  turned  away  in  a  passion  of  tears,  well 
knowing  that  to  Carolina's  proud  spirit  dependence 
would  be  far  worse  than  death. 

Bad  news  travels  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  and 
before  the  day  was  over  Carolina's  accident  was  on 
everybody's  tongue. 

Her  sister-in-law  was  indignant,  in  a  sense  out 
raged  by  Carolina's  behaviour.  She  blamed  her 
first  of  all  for  existing  in  her  radiant  youth  and 
beauty  and  so  far  outshining  her  own  modest 
charms.  She  blamed  her  secondly  for  permitting 
Sherman  to  lose  her  money  and  thus  make  it  Ad- 
die's  duty  to  offer  her  a  home.  She  blamed  her 
thirdly,  and  most  bitterly  of  all,  for  injuring  her 
self  so  hopelessly  that  she  could  never  marry,  thus 
placing  herself  upon  Addie  to  support  for  life.  Was 
ever  a  more  unkind  fate  invented?  Addie's  tem 
per,  never  of  the  best,  burst  all  bounds  as  this 
situation  became  plain  to  her,  and  she  expressed 
herself  fluently  to  Sherman,  who  felt  himself  in 
cluded  in  her  misfortunes  as  part  author  of  them. 

It  was  an  unhappy  time  for  all  concerned,  for 
Carolina's  bitter  denunciations  of  her  fate  and  her 
grief  over  her  dependence  could  hardly  be  checked 
even  in  the  presence  of  Kate  and  her  family,  whose 
hospitality  and  friendship,  so  generously  offered, 


CAROLINA  LEE  79 

put  the  girl  under  at  least  civilized  bonds  of  re 
straint.  There  were  times,  however,  when  she  was 
alone,  that  she  relapsed  into  such  a  savage  state 
that  she  tore  her  hair  and  bit  her  own  tender 
flesh. 

The  sight  of  such  rebellion  reduced  even  Kate's 
mutinous  nature  to  peace  and  quiet  by  contrast, 
and  Kate  was  developed  into  a  gentle  friend  of 
Christian  sentiments  by  Carolina's  great  need. 

The  conversations  they  held  with  each  other  were 
long  and  intimate.  Kate  tried  to  put  faith  in  the 
series  of  doctors  who  succeeded  each  other  like 
chapters  in  a  book,  but  the  sufferer's  clear  eyes  saw 
not  only  through  Kate's  kind  intentions,  but 
through  the  great  surgeon's  hopeless  hopes,  and 
from  the  first  she  knew  the  worst.  Knew  that  her 
bright  youth  was  for  ever  gone;  that  her  useful 
ness  was  ended;  that  never  again  could  she  expect 
even  to  ornament  a  social  function,  crippled  as  she 
was  and  disfigured  by  ungainly  crutches.  Her  one 
hope  was  to  die.  Thus  she  made  no  effort  to  re 
cover,  and  her  strength,  instead  of  aiding  her,  grad 
ually  faded  away  until  her  accident,  though  not  at 
first  of  a  fatal  nature,  began  to  be  looked  on  as  her 
death-blow. 

At  this  juncture,  Addie,  struck  with  remorse, 
came  and  offered  Carolina  a  home,  but  Carolina 
shook  her  head. 


80  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  Thank  you,  Addie,  but  when  I  move  from  here 
it  will  be  to  rest  for  ever.  I  want  to  die  here  with 
Kate.  She  loves  me !  " 

It  was  a  bitter  thrust,  and  Addie  felt  it  to  the 
verge  of  tears.  Indeed,  she  was  so  moved  by  pity 
for  the  frail  shadow  that  Carolina  had  become,  that 
she  forgave  the  girl  for  having  been  so  beautiful 
and  began  to  be  fond  of  her,  as  one  is  fond  of  a 
crippled  child,  who  had  been  obnoxious  in  health. 

Trouble  develops  people. 

Mrs.  Winchester  was  detained  in  Boston  by  the 
dangerous  illness  of  the  niece  she  had  gone  to  visit, 
and  although  greatly  fretting  at  being  kept  away 
from  Carolina,  was  fairly  obliged  to  stay. 

Carolina  felt  that  she  was  welcome  at  the  How 
ards,  for  not  only  Kate's  mother  but  her  father 
often  came  to  sit  with  her  and  cheer  her  and  to 
urge  upon  her  how  glad  they  were  to  be  able  to 
help  her  when  she  needed  help. 

Carolina  was  grateful,  the  more  so  because  she 
felt  that  she  had  not  long  to  live.  She  had  been 
in  bed  several  months,  and  while  the  surgeons  said 
the  broken  bones  had  knit,  yet  it  was  agony  for 
her  to  move.  She  almost  fainted  with  pain  when 
they  were  obliged  to  lift  her  from  one  position  to 
another. 

Kate  spent  hours  in  trying  to  interest  her  in  the 
life  around  her.  She  felt  frightened  when  she  dis- 


CAROLINA  LEE  81 

covered  the  depth  of  Carolina's  listlessness.  Her 
weakness  took  a  stubborn  form. 

"  I  am  only  one  of  the  crowd  now,  Kate  dear," 
she  said  one  day  after  a  long  argument  from  her 
friend.  "  There  is  no  use  in  wasting  so  much 
energy  over  me.  Go  and  forget  me  and  enjoy  your 
self.  I  used  to  be  of  the  exclusive  few  who  got 
their  own  ways  always.  Now  I  belong  to  the  great 
mob  of  malcontents  —  the  anarchists  of  the  social 
world.  I  shall  not  want  to  blow  up  kings  and  presi 
dents,  but  I  would  like  to  throw  a  bomb  at  every 
happy  face  I  see." 

Her  voice  trailed  off  to  a  weak  whisper. 

"  Y-you  wouldn't  need  many  bombs,  then,"  said 
Kate,  "  for  I  never  s-see  any  really  happy  faces. 
Did  you  ever  in  all  your  life  —  either  at  balls 
abroad  or  the  opera  here,  see  a  perfectly  happy 
face?" 

Carolina  shook  her  head  and  closed  her  eyes 
wearily. 

Suddenly  she  opened  them  again. 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  "  I  have  seen  one  —  the  night 
of  '  Faust.'  It  was  Rosemary  Goddard !  " 

Kate  gave  a  little  scream. 

"  Well,  I'd  rather  follow  you  to  the  grave  you 
seem  so  bent  on  f-falling  into,"  she  stammered, 
"  than  to  get  happiness  from  such  a  source.  My 


82  CAROLINA  LEE 

dear,  Rosemary  Goddard  is  a  C-Christian  Scien 
tist!" 

Kate's  tone  indicated  that  Rosemary  had  con 
tracted  a  loathsome  disease. 

Carolina  fixed  her  eyes  on  Kate.  She  was  not 
of  a  contrary  disposition,  yet  the  difference  between 
Kate  Howard's  tone  and  Rosemary  Goddard's  face 
made  her  stop  to  think. 

"  I  should  like  to  talk  to  Rosemary,"  she  said  at 
last.  To  her  surprise  and  consternation,  Kate  burst 
into  tears. 

"  If  you  g-go  and  turn  into  one  of  those  n-nasty 
things,"  she  sobbed,  "  it  will  end  everything.  I'd 
rather  you  died !  " 

"  Then  never  mind,"  said  Carolina,  wearily.  "  I 
don't  want  to  vex  anybody.  Perhaps  I  shall 
die." 

Kate  jumped  up.  The  momentary  colour  faded 
from  Carolina's  face  and  the  strength  from  her 
voice.  Kate  recognized  the  change. 

"  I'll  go  and  f-fetch  her,"  she  said,  with  her  old- 
time  change  of  front.  "  She  may  do  you  good." 

When  she  came  back  with  Rosemary,  she  saw 
what  Carolina  had  seen  in  Rosemary's  face  —  an 
illumination  which  no  one  could  understand.  It 
transfigured  her. 

Kate  left  the  two  girls  together,  and  walked  the 
floor  in  tempestuous  anger  all  during  Rosemary's 


CAROLINA  LEE  83 

stay  in  the  house.  Something  in  Carolina's  eyes 
as  they  first  met  Rosemary's  told  Kate  that  the 
poison  was  already  at  work,  and  that  Carolina  was 
ripe  for  the  hated  new  religion. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

MAN'S   EXTREMITY 

ROSEMARY  approached  the  bed  wherein  lay  the 
wreck  of  the  girl  she  had  often,  when  in  the  grasp 
of  mortal  mind,  envied.  A  great  wave  of  sympa 
thy,  not  pity,  swept  over  her,  as  she  noted  the  weary 
eyes  and  the  lines  of  dissatisfaction  and  despair 
around  Carolina's  mouth.  With  an  impulse  of  love, 
she  knelt  at  the  bedside  and  took  Carolina's  little 
thin  hand  in  both  of  hers. 

"  Oh,  my  dear  Carol,"  she  said,  "  I  am  so  glad 
to  see  you.  I  heard  of  your  accident  while  I  was 
in  California.  I  only  got  back  yesterday." 

"  Would  you  have  come  to  see  me  if  I  had  not 
sent  for  you  ?  "  asked  Carolina,  childishly. 

"  I  was  coming  to-day.  Mother  suggested  it, 
and  I  was  only  too  happy  to  put  off  everything  of 
less  importance  and  come  at  once." 

"  Your  mother !  "  said  Carolina,  involuntarily. 
Then,  as  she  saw  Rosemary's  face  flush,  she  has 
tened  to  cover  her  awkward  exclamation.  "  I  did 


CAROLINA  LEE  85 

not  know  your  mother  knew  me  well  enough  to  — 
to  care ! " 

"  Mother  is  very  much  changed  since  you  knew 
her,"  said  Rosemary,  gently.  "  She  has  been 
healed." 

Carolina  did  not  know  the  nature  of  Mrs.  God- 
dard's  infirmity,  so  she  forbore  to  ask  of  what. 
She  only  knew,  as  all  the  smart  world  knew,  that 
Mrs.  Goddard  did  something  dreadful,  and  did  it 
to  excess.  It  was  whispered  that  it  was  a  case  of 
drugs,  but  there  were  those,  less  kind,  who  hinted 
at  a  more  vulgar  excess,  either  of  which  would  ex 
plain  the  dreadful  scenes  Mrs.  Goddard  had  occa 
sioned  in  public.  Her  intimates  asserted  that  a 
terrible  malady  was  at  the  bottom  of  her  habits, 
whatever  they  were.  At  any  rate,  a  somewhat 
scandalous  mystery  hung  over  Mrs.  Goddard's 
name,  although  she  had  been  at  the  forefront  of 
every  mad  scene  of  pleasure  the  fashionable  world 
could  invent  to  kill  time. 

"  You  are  changed,  too,"  said  Carolina,  wonder- 
ingly,  more  and  more  surprised  to  see  Rosemary 
Goddard  —  of  all  girls !  —  kneeling  at  her  bedside, 
holding  her  hand  in  a  warm  grasp,  pressing  it  now 
and  then  to  emphasize  an  affection  she  felt  shy  of 
expressing,  and  talking  in  a  gentle,  altogether  un 
known  tone  of  voice.  In  Carolina's  uncompromis 
ing  vocabulary  she  had  privately  stigmatized  Rose- 


86  CAROLINA  LEE 

mary  as  a  snob,  and  rather  ridiculed  her  exaggera 
tion  of  aristocracy.  But  the  coldness,  the  tired 
expression,  the  aloofness,  were  all  gone.  The  weary 
eyes  shone.  The  bored  eyebrows  were  lowered. 
The  curved  lips  smiled.  The  withdrawn  hands 
were  reached  out  to  help.  The  whole  attitude  was 
radiant  of  sympathy  and  love. 

Rosemary  could  not  forbear  to  smile  at  Carolina's 
unconscious  scrutiny. 

"What  has  done  it?"   asked  Carolina,  abruptly. 

"  Christian  Science,"  said  Rosemary,  frankly. 

Carolina  was  disappointed  that  she  did  not  rush 
on  and  explain.  She  had  heard  that  Scientists 
thrust  their  views  upon  you  and  were  instant  in 
season,  out  of  season.  She  was  piqued  that  Rose 
mary  did  not  give  her  the  opportunity  to  argue 
and  refute.  Carolina  wanted  to  be  coaxed. 

"  The  change  in  you  is  wonderful,"  she  said  at 
last.  "  I  think  it  is  always  a  little  insulting  to  tell 
a  woman  how  she  has  improved,  so  I  will  not  harp 
on  it.  But  I  don't  think  I  care  to  investigate  Chris 
tian  Science.  It  has  always  bored  me  when  people 
have  tried  to  explain  it  to  me." 

"  You  have  a  perfect  right  to  leave  it  alone, 
then,"  said  Rosemary.  "  Christian  Science  does  not 
need  you  in  the  least." 

Although  her  tone  was  perfectly  sweet  and  kind, 
it  was  dignified,  and  Carolina's  quickness  at  once 


CAROLINA  LEE  87 

comprehended  the  almost  unbearable  priggishness 
of  her  remark. 

"  I  did  not  intend  to  be  rude,"  she  said,  hurriedly. 
Then  she  hesitated  as  another  thought  struck  her, 
and  in  a  more  timid  voice  she  said: 

"  Did  you  mean  that  Christian  Science  does  not 
need  me  as  much  as  I  need  Christian  Science?  " 

Rosemary  pressed  her  hand  as  her  only  reply. 

"  Can  it  help  me?  "  cried  Carolina,  with  sudden 
fervour.  "  I  am  a  wreck,  physically  and  mentally. 
I  have  lost  parents,  fortune,  home,  health,  and  am 
bition.  I  long  to  die !  I  have  even  lost  my  God !  " 

"  Christian  Science  will  give  you  back  your  God," 
said  Rosemary. 

"  I  hate  God !  "    said  Carolina,  calmly. 

"  I  used  to  hate  Him,  too,"  said  Rosemary.  "  In 
the  old  thought  there  was  nothing  else  to  do,  for  a 
just  mind,  than  to  hate  Him.  We  had  made  an 
image  of  hate  and  vengeance  and  set  it  up  to  wor 
ship  and  called  it  God." 

"We?    Did  we  do  it?" 

"Of  course!    Who  else?" 

"Then  it  is  all  our  fault?" 

"  It  certainly  is  not  God's  fault,"  said  Rosemary. 
"  He  has  declared  Himself  to  be  Love  Incarnate. 
If  we  have  been  stupid  enough  to  endow  Him  with 
human  attributes  of  our  own  distorted  imagination, 
is  He  to  blame?" 


88  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  He  never  answered  a  prayer  of  mine  in  all  my 
life!"  cried  Carolina,  passionately,  looking  at  the 
ceiling  as  if  to  make  sure  that  God  heard  her  accu 
sation,  and  as  if  she  hoped  to  irritate  Him  into 
hearing  future  prayers. 

"  Nor  of  mine,  either,  until  I  learned  how  to 
pray." 

"Who  discovered  the  new  way?  That  Eddy 
woman  ?  " 

"  Mrs.  Eddy  did." 

"  How,  I  should  like  to  know  ?  Why  was  all 
this  given  to  her  to  know  and  not  to  some  man  ?  " 

"  By  the  way,"  said  Rosemary,  as  if  changing 
the  subject,  "  I  hear  that  you  speak  both  Japanese 
and  Russian  and  that  you  did  some  important  in 
terpreting  at  a  banquet  on  board  the  Kaiser's  yacht 
at  Cowes,  last  spring.  Did  you  ?  " 

"  I  believe  so,"  said  Carolina,  wearily. 

"  However  did  you  manage  to  master  two  such 
awfully  difficult  languages  ?  " 

"  I  studied  years  to  do  it." 

"  How  strange  that  my  brother  was  not  called 
upon  to  do  that  interpreting,"  said  Rosemary,  in 
a  musing  tone.  "  He  was  at  that  banquet,  and  he 
is  a  man." 

Carolina  opened  her  lips  to  make  an  incautious 
reply,  but  caught  herself  just  in  time.  A  gleam  in 
Rosemary's  eyes  warned  her. 


CAROLINA  LEE  89 

"  I  see,"  she  said,  reddening.  "  But  I  must  say 
you  baited  the  hook  skilfully." 

"  I  had  to,  in  order  to  catch  you,"  said  Rosemary. 

Carolina  turned  her  head  on  her  pillow  rest 
lessly. 

"  Tell  me  about  how  you  came  to  accept  it,"  she 
said,  pleadingly. 

"Well,  I  was  so  abnormally  miserable!  I  had 
everything  in  the  world  I  wanted  —  apparently, 
yet  my  home  was  full  of  discord.  I  had  only  a  big, 
beautiful  house.  I  wanted  the  love  of  a  certain 
man.  He  held  aloof  while  all  the  others  were  at 
my  feet.  I  prayed  wildly  to  my  God  for  help,  and 
He  mocked  me.  Then  I  grew  bitter  and  vengeful. 
I  vowed  that  I  would  have  all  that  life  held  with 
out  God,  for  it  seemed  to  me,  in  my  vicious  inter 
pretation  of  Him,  that  every  time  He  saw  me  poke 
my  head  out  of  my  hole,  He  hit  it  —  " 

"  Just  to  show  that  He  could !  "  cried  Carolina, 
almost  with  a  scream  of  comprehension. 

"  Exactly  —  just  to  show  that  He  could.  Well, 
then  I  plunged  into  a  madness  I  called  gaiety,  and 
grew  more  and  more  unhappy  because  I  saw  that 
each  day  I  was  putting  myself  further  and  further 
from  the  man  I  loved.  Then,  as  if  to  fill  my  al 
ready  full  cup  to  overflowing,  mamma  grew  very 
much  worse,  so  much  so  that  I  wanted  her  to  die. 
I  really  felt  that  she  had  exhausted  all  that  materia 


90  CAROLINA  LEE 

medico,  could  do  for  her,  and  that  death  was  the 
only  way  to  end  it,  both  for  her  and  for  us.  Then 
I  heard  of  a  Christian  Science  practitioner,  named 
Mrs.  Seixas.  I  went  to  see  her,  and,  impossible 
as  it  may  sound,  in  the  first  fifteen  minutes,  I  had 
told  her  the  whole  truth,  mortifying  as  it  was.  But 
she  seemed  not  only  to  inspire  confidence,  but  to 
radiate  help.  I  felt  that,  although  I  was  a  perfect 
stranger  to  her,  yet  she  wanted  to  help  me  —  that 
she  would  go  out  of  her  way  to  do  it,  and  that 
the  reason  she  would  do  it  was  because  she  loved 
much.  I  took  her  to  mamma  that  same  day,  and 
mamma's  complete  healing  is  so  great  a  marvel 
that  we  never  can  get  used  to  it.  Our  happiness  is 
almost  too  much  to  bear." 

Rosemary's  eyes  filled  with  tears  which  rolled 
down  her  cheeks.  Carolina  viewed  her  with  an 
astonishment  that  she  could  ill  conceal.  Rosemary 
Goddard  to  be  talking,  nay,  more,  feeling  like  that ! 
A  question  was  so  unmistakably  in  Carolina's  eyes, 
which  her  tongue  could  not  gain  permission  to 
utter,  that  Rosemary  found  herself  answering  it. 

"  Then,  when  God  had  made  me  worthy  of  a 
good  man's  love,  the  desire  of  my  heart  came  to 
me,  in  so  sweet  and  natural  a  way  that  it  broke 
down  the  last  barrier  of  pride  and  left  me  humbly 
at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  marvelling  at  God's  good 
ness!" 


CAROLINA  LEE  91 

Carolina  drew  Rosemary's  face  down  to  hers 
and  laid  her  cheek  against  it. 

There  was  a  long  silence  between  them.  Then 
Carolina  said,  fearfully: 

"  My  hip  is  broken.     Can  that  be  cured  ?  " 

"  God  can  do  anything." 

"  So  that  I  needn't  use  crutches?  " 

"  Most  certainly.  You  won't  even  limp.  You 
will  be  made  perfectly  whole!" 

"  Just  as  I  was  before  ?  " 

"  Just  as  you  were  before  —  except  these  bonds." 

Carolina  thought  a  moment. 

"  But  what  do  I  want  to  get  well  for  ?  I  have 
lost  Guildford!" 

"  Nothing  can  be  lost  in  Truth !  " 

Rosemary  felt  her  two  hands  grasped  firmly,  and 
without  thinking  Carolina  raised  herself  to  a  sit 
ting  posture  in  bed  without  pain. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  there  is  the  —  that 
Christian  Science  teaches  that  there  is  any  remote 
possibility  of  my  getting  Guildford  back  ?  " 

"  Guildford  belongs  to  you,  and  has  never  been 
lost.  It  is  only  error  which  makes  such  a  law  for 
you.  Truth  emancipates  everybody  and  every 
thing." 

"I  don't  believe  it!"  said  Carolina.  "I  can't! 
It's  too  good  to  be  true !  I  don't  understand  it !  " 

"  You  do  understand  it !  "    said  Rosemary. 


92  CAROLINA  LEE 

"What  makes  you  think  so?" 

"  Because  you  are  sitting  up  in  bed,  and  you 
raised  yourself  without  pain.  That  is  because,  for 
a  moment,  your  soul  accepted  God  as  Love  and  the 
source  of  all  supply.  Unconsciously  your  mind 
looked  into  His  mind,  and  you  saw  the  truth." 

"  I  believe  that  I  could  get  up !  "  said  Carolina, 
in  a  sort  of  ecstasy. 

"  I  know  that  you  can !     Give  me  your  hand." 

Rosemary  helped  Carolina  to  dress,  and  in  half 
an  hour  Carolina  was  sitting,  for  the  first  time 
in  months,  in  a  chair  by  the  window,  with  Rose 
mary  reading  and  marking  for  her  the  passages 
in  "  Science  and  Health  "  which  bore  immediately 
upon  her  case.  Carolina's  mind  opened  under  it 
like  a  flower. 

"Oh,  I  need  so  much  teaching!"  cried  Caro 
lina.  "Who  will  help  me?" 

"  Did  you  know  that  my  mother  is  a  practitioner 
and  holds  classes?"  asked  Rosemary. 

Carolina  almost  felt  her  new-found  rock  melt 
ing  beneath  her  feet  at  this  intelligence. 

"No,  I  did  not.  Will  she  take  me?  And  will 
you  help  ?  " 

"  We  will  both  do  all  we  can  for  you  with  the 
greatest  joy." 

When  Rosemary  left,  Kate  came  in  and  Caro 
lina  explained  everything  to  her. 


CAROLINA  LEE  93 

Kate  called  Noel  St.  Quentin  by  telephone  and 
told  him  that  Carolina  had  gone  insane. 

The  next  morning  Carolina  awakened  with  the 
happy  consciousness  that  something  pleasant  had 
happened.  Hitherto  she  had  gone  to  sleep,  glad < 
of  the  respite  of  a  few  hours  of  unconsciousness. 
Simply  not  to  know  —  simply  not  to  be  awake 
and  to  realize  her  load  of  pain  and  disappoint 
ment,  had  been  her  prayer.  With  her  definite 
aim  in  life  swept  away,  she  felt  rudderless,  for 
lorn,  despairing. 

But  suddenly  everything  was  changed.  Her 
weakness  vanished  as  if  by  magic.  Instead  of 
dreading  to  open  her  eyes  and  clarify  her  brain 
for  thought  her  mind  leaped  to  a  lucid  clearness 
without  effort.  The  glow  of  happiness  which  per 
vaded  her  she  could  liken  to  nothing  so  much 
as  the  awakening  in  her  hated  school-days  to  the 
knowledge  that  to-day  was  Saturday! 

And  what  had  brought  her  healing?  Only  a 
few  hours'  talk  from  Rosemary  Goddard  which 
seemed  to  untangle  all  the  knots  of  her  existence 
and  to  wipe  the  mists  from  the  window-panes, 
out  of  which  she  had  been  vainly  trying  to  get 
a  clear  view  of  her  life,  its  reason  for  being,  and 
its  duties.  Always  the  question  with  Carolina  had 
been  "  To  what  end  ?  "  And  all  the  answers  had 
been  vague  and  unsatisfactory,  until  suddenly  she 


94  CAROLINA  LEE 

had  stumbled  by  reason  of  her  infirmity  upon  one 
who  could  answer  her  vehement  questions  clearly 
and  lucidly. 

Emerson  must  have  been  largely  of  the  thought 
when  he  wrote :  "  Put  fear  under  thy  feet !  " 
Carolina,  with  her  sensitive,  mystic  nature  had 
been,  in  common  with  all  imaginative  persons, 
literally  a  slave  to  her  fear.  What  could  it 
mean,  this  sudden  freedom,  except  that  she  had 
found  the  only  true  way  out  of  bondage? 

With  a  little  assistance,  she  was  able  to  dress 
herself  and  sit  in  a  chair  to  wait  for  the  promised 
visit  of  Rosemary's  mother. 

She  had  known  of  Mrs.  Goddard  for  years,  al 
though  she  seldom  appeared  in  public.  No 
one  spoke  the  name  of  her  malady,  but  every 
one  knew  of  her  intense  suffering  and  of  the 
days  she  spent  unconscious  from  the  effects  of 
quieting  drugs.  Secretly  every  one  expected  to 
hear  at  any  time  of  Mrs.  Goddard's  madness 
or  death,  and  Carolina  had  heard  no  news  of 
her  except  what  Rosemary  had  said  until  Mrs. 
Goddard  was  announced  and  found  her,  dressed 
and  sitting  up  to  meet  her  guest,  with  out 
stretched  hand  and  happy,  smiling  face.  As  usual 
Carolina's  expressive  countenance  betrayed  her. 

"  No  wonder  you  look  surprised,  my  dear," 
said  Mrs.  Goddard,  kissing  the  girl  on  the  cheek 


CAROLINA  LEE  95 

with  warmth.  "  Rosemary  evidently  did  not  have 
time  yesterday  to  tell  you  what  brought  us  both 
into  Science.  I  was  cured  of  cancer  in  its  worst 
form.  Did  you  never  know  ?  " 

"  I  knew  you  were  very,  very  ill  and  suffered 
horribly,"  said  Carolina,  "  but  —  " 

"  I  know.  -My  friends  were  very  kind.  They 
never  gave  it  a  name.  But  that  was  it." 

"  Oh,  how  wonderful !  "  cried  Carolina,  with 
shining  eyes. 

"  Not  half  as  wonderful  as  what  it  did  for  me 
mentally,"  said  Mrs.  Goddard.  "  I  used  to  feel 
that  I  had  brought  my  malady  on  myself  by  my 
way  of  life.  I  was  the  gayest  of  the  gay  in  my 
youth,  and  in  middle  life  I  found  that  stimulants 
had  such  a  hold  on  me  that  I  was  not  myself 
unless  I  was  drugged.  I  ran  the  gauntlet  of  those 
until  I  came  to  morphine.  There  I  stayed,  and 
whether  the  morphine  came  of  the  cancer  or  the 
cancer  of  the  morphine  I  never  knew.  But  the 
horror  of  my  life  I  can  readily  recall.  It  came  to 
a  point  when  the  best  physicians  and  surgeons  in 
New  York  said  that  there  must  be  an  operation 
and  frankly  added  that  no  one  could  tell  whether 
I  would  come  out  of  it  or  not.  Pleasant,  wasn't 
it?" 

Carolina  only  clasped  her  hands  together,  and 
Mrs.  Goddard  proceeded : 


96  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  Then  Rosemary  heard  of  Christian  Science, 
and  without  saying  a  word  to  me,  she  looked  up 
the  names  of  one  or  two  practitioners  and  called. 
The  first  one  she  did  not  care  for  and  came  away 
discouraged.  But  something  told  her  to  try 
again,  and  her  second  attempt  led  her  to  the  door 
of  the  angel  of  healing  who,  under  God,  worked 
this  cure,  Mrs.  Seixas.  Rosemary  had  not  talked 
with  her  ten  minutes  before  she  knew  that  she  had 
been  led  aright.  She  wanted  Mrs.  Seixas  to  get 
into  the  brougham  and  come  at  once,  but  accord 
ing  to  Science  practice  she  insisted  upon  Rosemary's 
coming  home  and  getting  my  consent. 

"  You  can  imagine  that  I  was  not  slow  to  accept 
the  hope  it  offered,  and  that  same  afternoon  I  had 
my  first  treatment.  Carolina,  inside  of  an  hour  the 
pain  all  left  me!  Child,  you  have  suffered,  so  you 
know,  you  can  fathom  as  many  cannot,  what  that 
means !  I  promised  when  the  pain  returned  to  call 
her  by  telephone,  instead  of  taking  the  morphine, 
but  it  never  did  come  back!  She  gave  me  treat 
ments  from  her  office  every  hour  for  the  rest  of  the 
day  and  came  back  after  dinner  that  night  and  gave 
me  another.  That  was  three  years  ago.  To-day  I 
am  a  well  woman.  I  eat  whatever  I  please  and  not 
once  has  the  old  craving  for  stimulants  attacked 
me.  I  am  a  free  woman  and  a  very  happy  one ! " 

"  Oh,  Mrs.  Goddard,"  cried  Carolina,  "  thank  you 


CAROLINA  LEE  97 

so  much  for  telling  me.  It  helps  me  to  know  that 
I  am  being  cured !  " 

"  That  you  are  cured." 

"  Yes,  I  must  believe  that." 

"  Pardon  me  —  not  so  much  believe  it,  as  you 
must  understand  it  and  understand  why  it  is  so. 
Every  orthodox  Christian  is  ready  to  state  glibly 
that  God  is  All,  but  they  never  act  as  if  they  be 
lieved  it  and  that  is  the  chief  difference  between 
members  of  churches  and  Christian  Scientists." 

"  Why  does  every  one  hate  Christian  Science  so 
before  they  understand  it  ?  " 

"  Christian  Science  is  like  a  large  crystal  bowl 
full  of  the  pure  water  of  life.  Left  alone  it  simply 
sparkles  in  the  sunlight  of  God's  smile.  But  if  you 
bring  to  it  the  alkali  of  ignorance  and  the  acid  of 
prejudice,  this  clear  water  becomes  the  vehicle  of 
a  most  energetic  boiling  and  fizzing.  But  when  it 
has  assimilated  the  two  foreign  ingredients  the 
residue  sinks  to  the  bottom  harmlessly,  the  water 
clarifies  itself  by  its  reflected  power,  and  the  crystal 
bowl  resumes  its  placid,  sparkling  aspect." 

"  I  understand,"  said  Carolina,  "  that  I  must  have 
caused  that  commotion  rather  often,  for  I  used  to 
hate  Christian  Science  so  vigorously  and  I  hated 
Mrs.  Eddy  so  intensely  that  I  used  to  rejoice  at 
every  adverse  criticism  of  her  or  her  work,  and  I 
used  to  go  to  the  trouble  (when  I  never  would 


98  CAROLINA  LEE 

have  bothered  to  make  a  scrap-book)  of  cutting 
things  out  of  the  papers,  and  mailing  them  to  my 
friends.  I  deliberately  put  myself  out  in  order  to 
hate  it  more  adequately !  " 

"  I  know,"  said  Mrs.  Goddard.  "  Isn't  it  strange, 
when  you  look  back  on  it  in  the  light  of  your  new 
understanding  and  your  healing?  " 

"  Ye-es,"  said  Carolina,  dubiously,  "  but  to  be 
quite  truthful,  I  am  afraid  I  am  not  cured  of  all 
my  prejudice  yet !  " 

"  Let  it  go,"  said  Mrs.  Goddard.  "  It  will  pass 
of  itself.  Don't  fret  about  it.  Now  tell  me  about 
yourself.  You  know  we  do  not  dwell  upon  our 
ailments,  mental  or  physical,  but  if  you  state  them 
to  me,  as  your  physician  I  can  work  more  intelli 
gently." 

"  Oh,"  sighed  Carolina,  "  what  is  there  not  the 
matter  with  me !  Where  shall  I  begin  ?  " 

"  Let  it  console  you  to  know  in  advance  that 
there  is  a  remedy  in  Divine  Science  for  everything. 
'  Not  a  sparrow  falleth  '  —  you  remember !  The 
table  of  comfort  for  every  woe  is  spread  before  you 
in  the  presence  of  your  enemies.  Fear  neither 
them  nor  to  partake  freely  of  God's  gifts.  The 
more  eagerly  you  come  and  the  more  you  partake 
of  the  feast  Divine  Love  spreads,  the  more  gener 
ously  God  will  pour  out  His  blessings  upon  you." 

Thus   encouraged   Carolina   told   her   suspicions 


CAROLINA  LEE  99 

of  the  fate  of  Guildford  and  of  Colonel  Yancey, 
without,  however,  mentioning  him  by  name,  until, 
led  on  by  Mrs.  Goddard's  sympathetic  manner,  she 
threw  her  whole  soul  into  the  recital  of  her  own  and 
Mrs.  Winchester's  loss,  and  of  how  she  had  hoped  to 
restore  Guildford. 

Occasionally  Mrs.  Goddard  interrupted  her  to 
ask  a  pertinent  question.  It  gave  Carolina  a  feel 
ing  of  comfort  to  realize  her  new  friend's  mentality. 
Carolina,  was  so  accustomed  to  knowing  people  of 
capacity  and  brilliant  intelligence  that  her  mind 
reached  after  such  naturally. 

"  Guildford  is  not  lost  to  you,"  said  Mrs.  God 
dard,  just  as  Rosemary  had. 

"  It  will  be  restored  to  you,  and  you  will  be  able 
to  make  good  Mrs.  Winchester's  loss.  You  must 
have  harmony  in  your  life.  That  is  your  right  — 
your  God-bestowed  right.  You  are  an  heir  of  God's 
boundless  affluence.  It  is  a  crime  for  one  of  God's 
little  ones  to  be  poor,  or  neglected,  or  sick,  or  for 
saken.  Not  to  believe  this  is  to  doubt  His  promises, 
which  are  sure,  and  to  limit  His  power,  which  is 
limitless. 

"  We  do  not  know  the  way,  nor  must  we  make 
laws  nor  dictate  means.  But  God  is  even  now  pre 
paring  the  broad  highway  which  shall  lead  your  feet 
straight  to  the  gates  of  Guildford.  Let  Him  find  you 
humble,  grateful,  and  ready  for  the  blessing.  Don't 


ioo  CAROLINA  LEE 

fret.  Don't  worry.  Don't  be  anxious.  '  Be  still, 
and  know  that  I  am  God ! ' 

For  her  only  reply  Carolina  bowed  her  face  upon 
her  hands,  and  burst  into  an  uncontrollable  fit  of 
weeping. 

Mrs.  Goddard  made  no  effort  to  check  or  comfort 
her,  except  by  thought.  When  she  had  finished, 
Mrs.  Goddard  nodded  her  head,  saying: 

"  That  did  you  good.  Now  for  your  physical 
self !  Was  the  hip  broken  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  set  by  six  of  the  best  surgeons  in  New 
York.  Doctor  Colfax  is  the  most  hopeful,  but  even 
he  says  that  if  ever  I  grow  strong  enough  to  leave 
off  crutches,  I  shall  limp  all  my  life." 

Mrs.  Goddard  smiled. 

"  Doctor  Colfax  is  one  of  the  best  men  I  ever 
knew.  His  left  hand  knows  not  what  his  right  hand 
does  in  the  way  of  charity,  and  his  whole  life,  in 
stead  of  being  devoted  to  amassing  a  fortune,  is 
given  up  to  the  healing  of  mankind." 

"  Why,  I  thought  Scientists  did  not  like  doc 
tors  !  "  cried  Carolina. 

"  We  admire  their  intentions.  Who  could  fail 
to?  Among  them  are  some  of  the  noblest  charac 
ters  I  have  ever  known  in  any  walk  of  life." 

"  But,"  cried  Carolina,  alarmed  by  this  praise, 
"  you  don't  believe  that  what  he  says  is  true  ?  Why, 
Rosemary  assured  me  —  " 


CAROLINA  LEE  101 

"  And  I  assure  you  no  less  than  Rosemary,"  said 
Mrs.  Goddard,  "  that  God  is  able  and  willing  to  heal 
all  such  as  repent  of  their  sins  and  come  to  Him  with 
an  humble  and  contrite  heart.  You  are  the  best 
judge  of  whether  your  heart  is  right  toward  your 
enemies.  Can  you  bring  yourself  to  love  this  man 
who  has  defrauded  you  of  your  inheritance?  If 
not,  you  have  no  right  to  expect  God  to  restore  it 
to  you.  Now  think  this  over  while  I  give  you  a 
treatment." 

Carolina  watched  her  in  so  great  a  surprise  that 
she  forgot  to  think  over  her  grievance  against  Colo 
nel  Yancey.  Mrs.  Goddard  leaned  her  elbow  on 
the  arm  of  her  chair,  and  pressed  the  tips  of  her  fin 
gers  lightly  against  her  closed  eyes  as  if  in  silent 
prayer.  Her  lovely  face  framed  in  large  ripples  of 
iron-gray  hair,  her  gown  of  silvery  gray,  her  figure 
still  youthful  in  its  curves,  her  slender,  spiritual 
hands,  her  earnest  voice,  and  tender,  helpful 
manner,  formed  so  beautiful  an  image  in  Caro 
lina's  mind,  and  she  longed  so  ardently  to  model 
herself  upon  the  spirit  she  represented,  that  tears 
welled  to  her  eyes  when  she  contrasted  her  own 
attitude  with  Mrs.  Goddard's,  and  when  she  recalled 
herself  with  a  start,  to  the  subject  of  Colonel  Yan 
cey,  she  found  to  her  surprise  that  his  importance 
had  so  diminished  that  he  had  receded  into  the  back 
ground  of  her  thought,  and  the  thing  she  most 


102  CAROLINA  LEE 

ardently  desired  was  not  Guildford,  but  to  put  her 
self  right  with  God,  her  Father ! 
•  At  the  moment  that  this  thought  formulated  in 
her  mind,  a  flood  of  divine  peace  poured  over  her 
whole  spirit,  and  for  the  first  time  the  pain  of  her 
bereavement  lessened,  and  then  gently  passed  into 
nothingness. 

God  her  Father!  A  God  of  infinite  tenderness 
and  love !  One  who  loved  her  even  as  her  own  dear 
father  had  loved !  One  who  was  not  responsible  for 
all  the  evil  which  had  descended  upon  her!  One 
who  owed  her  only  love  and  protection,  and  a  ten 
derness  such  as  she  had  received  in  its  highest 
earthly  form  from  her  father. 

In  vain  Carolina  struggled  to  deify  God  above  her 
earthly  father.  She  had  loved  him  in  so  large  and 
deep  and  broad  a  manner  that  she  could  only  real 
ize  her  new  God  by  comparing  Him  to  her  father. 
And  Divine  Science  had  sent  this  new  interpreta 
tion  of  God  to  her  to  take  the  place  in  her  sore 
heart  of  the  ever-present  aching  sense  of  her  great 
loss. 

When  Mrs.  Goddard  ended  her  treatment  and 
opened  her  eyes,  she  sat  for  a  moment  in  silent  con 
templation  of  the  transfigured  face  before  her. 
Carolina's  beauty,  as  she  thus,  for  the  first  time, 
beheld  the  face  of  her  Father,  was  almost  unearthly. 
It  was  as  that  of  the  angels  in  heaven. 


CAROLINA  LEE  103 

A  wave  of  generous  thanksgiving  and  rejoicing 
swept  over  the  soul  of  her  practitioner,  for  she 
knew  that  she  had  been  permitted  to  be  the  instru 
ment  in  God's  hands  of  healing  a  soul  which  had 
been  sick  unto  death.  Carolina's  bodily  healing 
took  second  place  in  her  thought,  yet  her  confidence 
was  sound  that  that  was  even  now  being  accom 
plished. 

When  Carolina  met  her  eyes,  she  smiled.  She 
had  found  peace. 

"  Now,  dear  child,  I  want  to  leave  with  you  the 
ninety-first  Psalm.  Read  it  with  your  new  thought 
in  mind,  and  you  will  realize  that  you  never  have 
even  apprehended  it  before.  Remember,  too,  that 
you  are  not  alone  any  more.  You  are  cradled  in 
Divine  Love,  for  God  is  both  Mother  and  Father 
to  His  children.  '  The  eternal  God  is  thy  refuge, 
and  underneath  are  the  everlasting  arms ! ' 

Mrs.  Goddard  bent  and  kissed  the  girl,  and  Caro 
lina,  usually  so  reserved,  laid  her  flowerlike  face 
against  the  older  woman's  cheek  in  a  silence  too 
deep  for  words. 

"  Remember,  dear,  to  call  on  me  by  day  or  night 
exactly  as  if  I  were  Doctor  Coif  ax,  for  I  am  your 
physician  now.  But  deny  your  error  as  soon  as  it 
makes  its  appearance  and  you  won't  need  to  send 
for  me.  I  will  come  of  my  own  accord  every  day 
and  help  you  in  your  studies.  Now  I  must  go. 


104  CAROLINA  LEE 

Rosemary  and  I  love  you  already.  Both  Divine 
and  human  love  are  pouring  in  upon  you  in  such 
a  manner  that  you  shall  not  be  able  to  receive  it. 
Good-bye  and  God  bless  you,  my  dear ! " 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE     TRIAL     OF     FAITH 

To  understand  Carolina's  complete  and  instant 
acceptance  of  the  doctrines  of  Christian  Science 
in  addition  to  her  healing,  it  is  necessary  to  take 
a  more  intimate  view  of  her  character. 

A  person  of  little  or  no  understanding,  or  of  little 
or  no  depth,  would  naturally  have  accepted  the 
boon  of  restored  health,  whether  she  ever  went  any 
further  in  the  doctrine  or  not.  But  Carolina  was 
different.  To  her  the  blessing  was  in  a  change  of 
thought.  Marvellous  as  she  felt  her  healing  to  be, 
her  greatest  gain  was  in  the  peace  and  happiness 
which  descended  upon  her  like  a  garment. 

To  be  sure  she  had  been  in  a  desperate  plight, 
both  physically  and  spiritually,  when  this  wonderful 
hand  was  stretched  out  to  her  in  her  darkness 
and  despair,  yet  many  to  whom  it  reaches  out  re 
fuse  its  grasp  simply  from  a  blind  prejudice.  Hav 
ing  ears,  they  hear  not,  nor  will  they  when  they 
might.  It  argues  a  particularly  lovely  spirit  to  be 
able  to  accept  so  freely  and  gladly.  Carolina  was 
not  free  from  prejudice.  Far  from  it.  But  she 


io6  CAROLINA  LEE 

was  not  stupid.  Aside  from  a  clear,  spiritual  under 
standing,  to  be  able  to  accept  Christian  Science 
demonstrates  no  small  degree  of  mentality,  clear 
ness  of  perception,  and  a  capacity  for  higher  edu 
cation.  The  Science  of  Metaphysics  does  not 
appeal  to  fools,  and  only  wise  men  pursue  it. 
Christian  Science  is  the  only  religion  which  calls 
in  any  dignified  way  upon  a  man's  brain.  All  the 
others  stuff  one's  intelligence  with  cotton  wool, 
bidding  the  questioner  not  to  question  but  believe. 
Believe  what  his  ordinary  human  intelligence  re 
pudiates.  "  If  you  don't  understand  all  of  me," 
says  popular  religion,  "  skip  what  you  don't  under 
stand  and  go  on  to  the  next.  If  you  keep  on  long 
enough  you  will  find  something  that  you  can  be 
lieve  without  any  trouble.  Let  that  satisfy  you. 
Forget  the  rest." 

But  when  a  metaphysical  interpretation  of 
the  Scriptures  comes  ,  along  saying :  "  Ask  any 
question  you  will  and  I  will  give  you  an  answer 
that  will  satisfy  the  best  brains  and  highest  order 
of  intelligence  among  you,  for  the  day  of  blind 
belief  is  past,  and  the  day  of  understanding  is  at 
hand,"  then  the  highest  compliment  which  can  be 
paid  to  the  mentality  of  the  most  brilliant  man  and 
woman,  is  to  say :  "  They  are  Christian'  Scientists." 

There  may  be  —  there  are,  many  erratic  minds 
attracted  by  Christian  Science,  but  there  are  no 


CAROLINA  LEE  107 

complete  and  utter  fools  among  its  followers,  for 
the  mere  fact  that  a  man  has  sense  enough  to 
grope  after  the  very  best,  instead  of  being  satis 
fied  with  that  which  never  completely  satisfied  the 
mentality  of  any  man  or  woman  of  real  intelligence, 
is  an  evidence  that  some  degree  of  wit  must  be 
entangled  in  the  meshes  of  his  foolishness.  While 
on  the  other  hand  it  is  doubtful  if  there  ever  was 
a  forty-year  old  sect  in  the  knowledge  of  man 
which  numbered  the  multitude  of  brilliant  minds 
which  are  within  the  annals  of  Christian  Science. 

Carolina,  all  her  life,  had  been,  not  only  sur 
rounded  by,  but  familiar  with  the  best.  Her 
father's  and  mother's  brilliance  and  good  taste  had 
drawn  around  them  many  of  the  finest  minds  in 
Europe,  so  that  the  girl's  mentality  was  as  ripe  for 
the  highest  form  of  religion  as  it  was  of  literature 
or  art. 

She  plunged  into  the  study  of  it  with  all  the 
ardour  of  an  enthusiastic  intelligence,  and  heaved 
a  sigh  of  relief  when  she  realized  that  at  last  she 
had  found  a  dignified  religion,  free  from  every 
form  of  superstition,  from  all  material  symbols, 
and,  above  all,  one  which  made  it  possible  intelli 
gently  to  obey  the  command,  "  Be  ready  always 
to  give  an  answer  to  every  man  that  asketh  you 
a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  you  "  ( i  Peter  iii. 


io8  CAROLINA  LEE 

Her  greatest  fear  was  that  she  would  be  unable 
to  curb  the  hot  temper  which  mortal  mind  had 
made  into  the  law  that  it  was  a  Lee  inheritance. 

She  particularly  dreaded  her  first  interview  with 
Noel  St.  Quentin,  Kate,  and  Cousin  Lois.  She  had 
yet,  also,  to  face  Doctor  Colfax.  She  had  not  seen 
him  since,  by  Mrs.  Goddard's  advice,  she  wrote 
him  a  frank  little  note,  saying  that  her  healing  had 
been  marvellously  hastened  by  Christian  Science, 
and  that  she  had  so  much  faith  in  it  that  she  felt 
compelled  to  relinquish  all  claim  on  materia  medica, 
but  that,  in  doing  so,  she  wished  to  acknowledge 
most  gratefully  all  that  his  skill  had  accomplished 
in  her  case. 

It  was  a  hard  note  to  write,  for  Kate's  assertion, 
which  at  first  Carolina  had  indignantly  repudiated, 
that  Doctor  Colfax  was  falling  in  love  with  her, 
had  proved  true,  and  Carolina  knew  that  this  dis 
missal  of  him  as  her  physician  would  indicate  that 
he  need  expect  nothing  more  of  her  in  any  other 
capacity,  either. 

He  wrote  her  a  polite  but  stiff  letter  of  acknowl 
edgment,  and  soon  afterward  went  away  for  a 
brief  vacation. 

Carolina  realized  how  much  antagonism  she  had 
aroused  among  her  own  immediate  friends,  and 
she  spent  many  hours  consulting  Mrs.  Goddard 
how  to  conduct  herself  with  tact. 


CAROLINA  LEE  109 

When  Mrs.  Winchester  returned  from  Boston, 
Carolina  experienced  her  first  battle  with  error. 
She  possessed  a  high  spirit,  andjto  see  Cousin  Lois 
sit  and  look  at  her  in  silent  despair,  with  tears 
rolling  unchecked  down  her  cheeks,  irritated  Caro 
lina  almost  to  the  verge  of  .madness,  so  that  instead 
of  waving  aloft  the  glorious  banner  of  a  new  re 
ligion,  Carolina  found  herself  longing  to  box  Cousin 
Lois's  ears.  Anything,  anything  to  stop  those  mad 
dening  tears! 

She  could  only  control  herself  by  a  violent  effort. 
Mrs.  Winchester,  like  Kate  Howard,  was  an  ardent 
churchwoman,  and  to  both  these  women  Carolina's 
acceptance  of  Christian  Science  was  the  greatest 
blow  which  could  have  fallen  on  them,  short  of 
her  eloping  with  the  coachman.  They  felt  ashamed, 
and  in  no  small  degree  degraded. 

"  Whatever  can  you  see  in  it  ?  "  demanded  Mrs. 
Winchester,  plaintively,  one  Sunday  morning  just 
after  she  returned  from  church.  "  Why  need  you 
go  to  their  church?  Why  can't  you  continue  in 
the  church  you  were  baptized  into  as  a  baby?  I 
don't  care  what  you  believe,  just  so  you  go  to  the 
Episcopal  church!  It  is  so  respectable  to  be  an 
Episcopalian!  Oh,  Carolina,  as  I  sat  there  listen 
ing  to  that  sermon  to-morrow  —  oh,  Carolina,  how 
can  you  laugh  when  I  am  so  serious !  " 

"  Do  forgive  me,  Cousin  Lois,  but  you  couldn't 


I io  CAROLINA  LEE 

be  any  funnier  if  you  said  you  had  seen  something 
week  after  next !  " 

"  I  am  glad  to  know  that  a  Christian  Scientist 
can  laugh,"  sighed  Mrs.  Winchester,  whose  mild 
persistency  in  investing  the  new  thought  with  every 
attribute  that  she  particularly  disliked  was,  to  say 
the  least,  diverting. 

"  Am  I  improved  or  not  since  I  began  to  study 
with  Mrs.  Goddard  ?  "  demanded  Carolina,  with  re 
captured  good  humour. 

"  I  don't  see  any  improvement,  my  dear.  To 
me  you  were  always  as  nearly  perfect  as  a  mortal 
could  be!" 

"  Dear  loyal  Cousin  Lois !  "  said  Carolina. 

She  seldom  kissed  any  one,  but  she  kissed  Mrs. 
Winchester,  who  blushed  with  pleasure  under  the 
unusual  caress. 

"  Perhaps,"  she  added,  cautiously,  "  you  are  a 
trifle  more  demonstrative,  but  I  always  thought 
your  apparent  coldness  was  aristocratic." 

"  It  wasn't,"  said  Carolina,  decidedly.  "  It  was 
because  I  didn't  care." 

"And  now?"  questioned  Mrs.  Winchester,  wist 
fully. 

"  Now,"  cried  Carolina,  "  I  care  vitally  for  every 
thing  good !  " 

"  You  always  did,  I  think,"  said  Mrs.  Winches 
ter.  "  Even  as  a  child  you  always  gravitated 


CAROLINA  LEE  in 

toward  the  highest  of  everything.  You  are  too 
remarkable  a  girl,  Carolina,  to  throw  yourself  away 
at  this  late  day  on  a  fad  which  will  die  a  natural 
death  of  its  own  accord." 

"  May  I  be  there  to  see  when  Christian  Science 
dies !  "  cried  Carolina,  brightly.  She  felt  ashamed 
that  she  had  ever  lost  patience  with  any  one  who 
loved  her  as  idolatrously  as  Cousin  Lois. 

"  Doctor  Colfax  —  I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  I 
met  him  on  the  train,  and  that  he  asked  fifty  ques 
tions  about  you  that  I  couldn't  answer  —  Doctor 
Colfax  will  certainly  be  nonplussed  when  he  sees 
you  walking  with  only  that  cane.  He  told  me  he 
never  expected  to  see  you  walk  without  two 
crutches." 

"  Then  you  do  give  Christian  Science  credit  for 
that  much,  do  you  ?  "  asked  Carolina. 

"  Oh,  yes.  It  must  have  some  wonderful  power. 
I  simply  don't  understand  it,  that's  all.  And  Caro 
lina,  it  seems  so  —  excuse  me,  but  so  disrepu 
table!" 

"  Does  it?    I  hadn't  thought  of  it  in  that  light." 

"  And  so  unsexing !  Don't  you  have  women  in 
the  pulpit?" 

"  Yes.  Christian  Science  recognizes  woman  as 
the  spiritual  equal,  if  not  the  spiritual  superior,  of 
man." 

"  There !  "  said  Mrs.  Winchester,  triumphantly, 


112  CAROLINA  LEE 

as  if  having  scored  a  point  against  the  new  religion. 
"  Yet  woman  caused  man's  fall !  " 

"  No,  she  didn't,  Cousin  Lois.  Christian  Science 
doesn't  take  that  allegory  as  history." 

"  Oh,  Carolina !  Carolina !  You  are  indeed  in 
a  sad  way  when  you  forsake  the  faith  of  your 
ancestors!  Such  disloyalty  cannot  fail  to  have  a 
depressing  effect  upon  your  character !  " 

"  On  the  contrary,"  said  Carolina,  "  it  is  as  ex 
hilarating  to  kick  down  all  one's  old,  stale  beliefs 
as  a  game  of  football." 

At  this  Mrs.  Winchester's  asthma  returned. 
There  was  nothing  left  for  her  to  do,  in  her  state 
of  mind,  but  to  choke  or  to  swoon. 

A  few  evenings  later  Doctor  Colfax  telephoned 
to  Kate  that  he  would  drop  in  for  a  few  minutes 
after  dinner. 

"  H-he  can't  stand  it  for  another  minute,  Caro 
lina!"  cried  Kate.  "I  am  crazy  to 'see  his  face 
when  you  walk  in  without  your  crutches !  C-Carol, 
couldn't  you  take  an  extra  treatment  or  so,  and 
come  in  without  even  your  c-cane  ?  " 

Carolina's  eyes  blazed  with  joy  at  this  uncon 
scious  admission  on  Kate's  part  that  she  believed 
even  that  little  in  the  new  faith. 

For  reply  Carolina  rose  by  means  of  the  arms 
of  her  chair,  and  without  any  material  aid  what 
soever  took  half  a  dozen  steps. 


CAROLINA  LEE  113 

"Oh,  Carol!  Carol!"  shrieked  Kate,  bursting 
into  tears.  "  Y-you  never  even  limped !  Oh,  it's 
1-like  the  d-days  when  Christ  was  on  earth  to  s-see 
a  m-miracle  like  that !  " 

She  seized  her.  friend  in  her  arms  and  almost 
lifted  her  from  her  feet. 

"  D-do  it  to-night,  Carolina,  and  we'll  knock  their 
eye  out !  I'll  get  the  whole  family  together,  a-a-and 
you  j-just  walk  in  like  that!  Will  you?" 

"  Yes,  i'f  you  will  go  away  and  let  me  work  over 
it  this  afternoon.  And  don't  tell  anybody !  " 

"  Oh,  certainly  not !  That  would  spoil  the  sur 
prise." 

"  I  don't  mean  for  that  reason.  I  mean  that 
outsiders'  adverse  thought  would  hinder  my  work. 
Mortal  mind  makes  false  laws." 

"  C-could  you  just  as  well  t-talk  United  States 
when  you  are  heaving  your  ideas  at  me?  "  pleaded 
Kate.  "  Y-you  know  I'm  not  on  to  the  new  jargon, 
and  I  fail  to  connect  more  than  half  the  time." 

As  Carolina  laughed,  Kate  nodded  her  head  with 
great  satisfaction. 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  that  Christian  Science  has 
not  destroyed  your  royal  sense  of  humour,"  she 
said.  "  Now  I'm  off  to  let  you  w-work !  " 

But  when  the  door  closed  behind  Kate,  a  pro 
longed  sense  of  discouragement  seized  Carolina. 
She  looked  forward  to  the  evening  with  dread. 


H4  CAROLINA  LEE 

Kate  made  fun  of  it,  Doctor  Colfax  was  coming 
purposely  to  scoff,  and  she  knew  that  she  was  to 
be  made  conspicuous  because  of  her  religion. 

She  tried  to  walk  without  her  cane,  but  her  knee 
bent  under  her  and  she  fell  to  the  floor.  Her  first 
impulse  was  to  burst  into  tears,  but,  as  she  lay 
there  alone,  too  far  from  the  bell  to  summon  help, 
apparently  without  human  aid,  she  fancied  she 
heard  the  voice  of  Mrs.  Goddard  repeating :  "  For 
He  shall  give  His  angels  charge  over  thee,  to  keep 
thee  in  all  thy  ways.  They  shall  bear  thee  up  in 
their  hands,  lest  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone." 

She  said  this  over  and  over  to  herself,  and  it 
comforted  her.  Then  the  face  of  Mrs.  Goddard 
came  before  her  mental  vision,  and  the  lovely  ear 
nestness  of  her  voice  sounded  in  Carolina's  ear. 
She  remembered  her  last  words,  which  now  came 
back  to  her  with  strange  and  timely  significance : 

"  The  way  will  not  always  be  smooth  beneath 
your  feet.  Error  in  the  guise  of  fear,  selfish  or 
vainglorious  thoughts,  revenge,  self-pity,  or  desire 
to  shine  before  others  will  sometimes  cause  you  to 
stumble  and  fall.  But  at  such  times,  remember  to 
blame,  not  circumstances  nor  others,  but  your  own 
faulty  thought.  Be  severe  with  yourself.  Then 
turn  your  thought  instantly  to  the  Source  of  your 
supply.  No  one  can  help  you,  Carolina,  but  God. 
your  Father,  Divine  Love,  the  All  in  All  of  your 


CAROLINA  LEE  115 

existence,  your  very  Reason  for  being.  Realize 
that  God  is  all  there  is.  Beyond  Him  there  is  noth 
ing  and  nothingness.  Breathe  His  spirit.  Drink 
in  His  divine  power.  Make  yourself  one  with  Him, 
and  you  will  instantly  find  that  the  mists  which 
covered  the  surface  of  your  spiritual  reflection  of 
His  image  will  disappear,  and  you  will  begin  to 
reflect  His  government  clearly.  At  that  same  mo 
ment,  you  will  be  healed  of  your  infirmity." 

As  she  repeated  these  last  few  words  aloud,  a 
feeling  of  complete  security  took  possession  of  her, 
and  she  rose,  first  to  her  knees,  then  to  her  feet, 
and  walked  confidently  to  her  chair  by  the  window. 

In  great  thankfulness  she  took  her  Bible  and 
read  the  fifth  chapter  of  Luke,  and,  when  she  came 
to  the  twenty-fourth  and  twenty-fifth  verses,  she 
read  them  three  times,  with  a  heart  full  of  gratitude. 

Still  she  was  not  satisfied.  She  was  groping 
after  a  sign,  and  she  read  on  until  she  came  to  the 
words,  "  And  when  they  bring  you  unto  the  syna 
gogues,  and  unto  the  magistrates  and  powers,  take 
ye  no  thought  how  or  what  thing  ye  shall  answer, 
or  what  ye  shall  say.  For  the  Holy  Ghost  shall 
teach  you  in  that  hour  what  ye  ought  to  say." 

"  The  Holy  Ghost !  "  thought  Carolina.  "  I  won 
der  what  that  really  is.  That  is  one  of  the  things 
I  never  could  understand  in  the  old  thought." 

She   turned   to   the    Glossary   in    "  Science   and 


Ii6  CAROLINA  LEE 

Health,"  and  there  the  first  definition  of  Holy  Ghost 
was  "  Divine  Science." 

"  I  am  answered,"  she  said,  with  a  sigh  of  com 
plete  satisfaction.  "  For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I 
begin  \to  understand  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  John." 

She  leaned  her  head  against  the  window-pane 
to  watch  the  postman  come  down  the  street.  Then 
she  heard  his  whistle,  and  presently  the  maid 
brought  her  a  letter.  She  asked  the  maid  to  turn 
on  the  electric  light,  and,  when  she  had  done  so 
and  left  the  room,  Carolina  read  the  following 
letter : 

"  LONDON,  May  6,  19 — 

"  MY  DEAR  Miss  CAROLINA  :  —  You  have  re 
jected  my  suit  so  often,  when  I  had  no  inducement 
to  offer  you  except  a  heart  which  beats  for  you 
alone,  which  seems  to  be  no  temptation  to  you, 
that  I  shall  not  pay  you  the  poor  compliment  of 
offering  myself  to  you  again  when,  as  you  must 
have  heard,  I  have  become  the  owner  of  Guildford. 
"  But,  having  heard  of  your  great  misfortune 
and  of  your  change  of  religion,  and  knowing  that 
you  love  the  old  home  so  ardently  that  its  atmos 
phere  might  effect  a  cure  when  all  else  failed,  I 
beg  you  to  accept  Guildford  as  it  stands,  as  a  gift 
from  your  father's  old  friend, 

"  WAYNE  YANCEY." 


CAROLINA  LEE  117 

Carolina's  first  impulse,  having  read  the  letter 
twice,  was  one  of  the  cold  fury  she  used  to  feel 
when  a  child,  and  she  turned  pale  with  a  rage  which 
was  unspeakable  in  its  violence. 

Too  well  she  saw  through  the  malice  of  the  whole 
affair.  Colonel  Yancey  knew  that,  after  her  first 
impact  of  anger  had  passed,  her  next  thought 
would  be  to  wish  she  could  buy  the  estate  back, 
and  these  terms  he  intended  to  make  prohibitive. 
Carolina  .wondered  if  he  expected  to  wear  out  her 
patience,  and  so  force  her  to  marry  him,  or  what? 
She  could  not  hope  to  follow  with  accuracy  the 
tortuous  windings  of  a  mind  as  intricate  as  Colonel 
Yancey's,  and  she  despaired  of  ever  realizing  that 
the  labyrinth  could  untwist  into  the  straight  and 
narrow  way  to  which  she  was  accustomed.  But, 
so  far  from  crushing  her,  this  letter  simply  roused 
in  her  the  valiant  spirit  of  the  Lees.  So  far  from 
feeling  downhearted,  she  began  to  sing. 

But  it  was  not  a  worldly  courage  which  was 
sustaining  her.  It  was  the  spirit  which  had  grown 
out  of  her  afternoon  of  work. 

She  deliberately  took  her  cane  with  her  as  she 
went  down  to  dinner,  although  she  felt  that  she 
could  walk  without  it.  She  knew  that  Kate  wanted 
the  surprise  to  be  complete. 

With  this  end  in  view,  she  sat  at  the  table  until 


ii8  CAROLINA  LEE 

the  footman  announced  Doctor  Colfax,  and  then 
she  allowed  all  the  others  to  precede  her. 

"  N-now  wait  until  we  have  all  had  time  to 
shake  hands,  and  a-ask  him  how  he  enjoyed  him 
self,  and  give  him  a  chance  to  be  disappointed 
or  g-gloating,  just  as  he  feels,  because  y-you  aren't 
down.  Then  y-you  skate  in  and  w-watch  him 
drop!  We'll  have  him  a  Christian  Science  prac 
titioner  b-before  we  are  done  with  him ! " 

Carolina  obeyed. 

They  were  all  there,  —  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howard, 
Kate,  Cousin  Lois,  Doctor  Colfax,  and  Noel  St. 
Quentin,  and  all  were  under  the  impression  that 
Carolina  would  never  be  able  to  walk  without  some 
slight  support.  So  that,  when  she  walked  slowly 
through  the  door,  taking  her  steps  with  great  care, 
that  she  might  more  gloriously  reflect  the  Light, 
a  hush  fell  upon  them  all.  They  did  not  greet  her. 
They  rose  to  their  feet  and  stood  watching  her  in 
perfect  silence,  and  it  was  not  until  Kate  sobbed 
in  her  excitement  that  the  spell  was  broken. 

Noel  St.  Quentin  bit  his  lips,  and  Doctor  Colfax's 
face  went  from  red  to  white  in  an  emotion  which 
no  one  could  fathom.  Was  he  chagrined  to  see 
the  woman  he  loved  cured?  Did  he  grudge  her 
healing  at  other  hands  than  his? 

They  all  began  to  speak  at  once.     Only   Mr. 


CAROLINA  LEE  119 

Howard,  Kate's  father,  sat  back  and  watched  and 
listened. 

Roscoe  Howard  was  a  remarkable  man  in  many 
ways.  He  possessed  a  critical  mind,  large  wealth, 
great  depth  of  character,  and  a  sureness  and  quick 
ness  of  perception,  which  had  all  contributed  to 
his  success  in  life.  He  was  a  student,  above  all, 
of  human  nature,  and  he  had  insisted  upon  Kate's 
willing  hospitality  to  her  friend,  partly  from  affec 
tion  to  the  daughter  of  his  old  friend,  Winchester 
Lee,  and  partly  to  see  what  effect  such  an  avalanche 
of  misfortunes  would  have  upon  the  proud  spirit 
and  high-strung  nature  of  Carolina.  When  he 
heard  of  her  embrace  of  Christian  Science,  he  be 
came  still  more  interested.  He  had  once  gone  in 
to  sit  with  her  when  her  arm  was  bandaged  from 
wounds  from  her  own  teeth  in  one  of  her  fits  of 
despairing  rage. 

Therefore,  when  he  learned  from  his  daughter 
that  this  was  to  be  the  girl's  first  appearance  before 
her  old  friends,  he  could  imagine  the  ordeal  it 
would  prove  to  her,  and  in  his  own  mind  he  said : 
"  Carolina  will  show  us  to-night  whether  she  is 
The  Lady  or  The  Tiger !  " 

At  first  they  all  tried  to  be  polite  and  remember 
that  they  were  civilized,  but  soon  that  curious  un 
able-to-let-it-alone  spirit  which  Christian  Science 
invariably  stirs  in  mortal  mind  began  to  manifest 


120  CAROLINA  LEE 

itself  in  hints  and  covert  remarks  and  side  glances 
and  meaning  silences,  until  Carolina  calmly  looked 
them  in  the  eyes  and  said,  in  her  gentlest  manner : 
"  I  am  perfectly  willing  to  talk  about  it." 

Kate  clutched  her  mother's  arm. 

"  I-isn't  Carolina  a  d-dandy?"  she  whispered. 
"  Takes  every  hurdle  without  even  stopping  to 
measure  it  with  her  eye !  " 

"  Well,  doctor,  since  Carolina  has  given  us  per 
mission  to  discuss  it,  what  have  you  to  say  about 
it  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Howard. 

"  I  can  simply  say  this,"  said  Doctor  Colfax.  "  I 
don't  understand  it.  But,  then,"  he  added  frankly, 
"  I  don't  understand  the  Bible,  either." 

"  Then  that  is  why  you  don't  understand  my 
cure,  doctor,"  said  Carolina,  quietly,  "  for  it  is 
founded  on  the  promises  which  Christ  explicitly 
made  to  His  disciples." 

"  To  His  disciples,  —  yes,"  replied  Doctor  Col- 
fax,  quickly,  "  but  not  to  us.  We  are  not  His  dis 
ciples." 

"  If  you  are  a  thorough  Bible  student,"  said 
Carolina,  "  please  tell  me  the  exact  words  of  His 
promise." 

"  I  am  not.     You  have  me  there,  Miss  Lee." 

"  Well,"  persisted  Carolina,  "  where  did  He  limit 
the  power  He  gave,  and  which  you  admit  existed 
at  one  time,  to  His  disciples?  Did  He  ever  say, 


CAROLINA  LEE  121 

'  I  will  give  it  to  you  and  to  no  other  ?  '  or  '  I  will 
give  it  to  you  during  my  lifetime,  but  after  my 
ascension  it  will  return  unto  me,  because  you  will 
no  longer  have  need  of  it  ? ' 

"  No,  I  can't  remember  any  such  passages,"  ad 
mitted  Doctor  Colfax. 

"  W-well,  He  never  s-said  anything  of  the  kind," 
put  in  Kate.  "  I  don't  know  much,  but  I  know 
that!" 

"  What  did  He  say,  Carolina  ?  "  asked  St.  Quen- 
tin.  "  Do  you  remember  the  exact  words  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  do.  In  one  place  He  said :  '  He  that 
believeth  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do 
also.  And  greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do 
because  I  go  unto  my  father.'  And  at  another  time 
He  said :  '  Heal  the  sick,  cleanse  the  lepers,  raise 
the  dead,  cast  out  devils.  Freely  ye  have  received. 
Freely  give.'  Now  when  did  the  time  limit  to  those 
commands  end  ?  " 

"  Oh,  nonsense,  Carolina ! "  said  Mrs.  Howard, 
with  the  amused  toleration  of  the  already  saved. 
"  How  can  you  bring  up  such  absurd  speculations  ? 
All  those  questions  have  been  settled  for  us  by  the 
heads  of  the  Churches  years  and  years  before  we 
were  born." 

"  They  were  settled,  dear  Mrs.  Howard,  for  all 
who  choose  to  accept  such  decisions,  but  how  about 
those  of  us  who  have  questioned  all  our  lives  and 


122  CAROLINA  LEE 

never  found  an  answer  which  satisfied?  I  can 
remember,  as  a  little  girl  in  Paris,  I  used  to  come 
home  from  the  convent  and  ply  my  father  with  this 
very  question :  '  Why  can't  priests  and  preachers 
heal  in  these  days  the  way  Jesus  commanded  ? ' 

"  Well,  does  Mrs.  Eddy  have  the  nerve  to  assert 
that  she  rediscovered  the  way  to  perform  Christ's 
miracles?"  asked  Doctor  Colfax. 

"  Mrs.  Eddy  asserts  that  in  1866  she  discovered 
the  Christ  Science,  or  the  power  of  healing  disease 
as  Jesus  healed  it,  by  a  mental  process  which  is  so 
simple  that  to  all  Christian  Scientists  Christ's  so- 
called  miracles  are  not  miracles  at  all,  but  as  simple 
and  natural  as  any  other  mental  phenomenon  which 
has  become  common  by  reason  of  its  frequency." 

"  That  sounds  like  sacrilege,"  said  St.  Quentin. 

"  It  sounds  like  tommy-rot !  "  said  Kate. 

"  And  yet,"  put  in  Mr.  Howard,  "  we  must  all 
admit  that  Carolina  has  been  miraculously  healed. 
Do  you  not  admit  that,  doctor  ?  " 

Doctor  Colfax's  face  became  suffused.  He  bit  his 
lip,  then  said,  with  quiet  distinctness: 

"  If  I  had  cut  off  a  man's  leg  with  my  own  hands, 
and  Mrs.  Eddy,  under  my  very  eyes,  caused  a  new 
leg  to  grow  in  the  place  of  the  old  one,  I  would  not 
believe  in  her  or  in  anything  she  taught !  " 

Expressions  of  varying  emotions  swept  over  the 
faces  of  his  listeners  at  this  sincere  statement  of 


CAROLINA  LEE  123 

unbelief,  —  some  were  triumphant,  some  incredu 
lous,  some  surprised,  and  one  contemptuous. 

"  But,  doctor,  when  you  see  Christian  Science 
enrolling  the  names  of  the  most  brilliant  minds; 
when  you  see  the  loveliest  women  forsaking  a  life 
of  ease  and  pleasure  and  becoming  practitioners,  — 
Christian  Science  doctors  just  as  selfless  and  single- 
minded  as  you  —  " 

"  If  you  are  referring  to  that  depraved  woman 
who  claims  to  have  cured  you,  Miss  Lee,  that  mor 
phine  fiend,  that  drunkard,  that  reformed  character, 
I  beg  that  you  will  not  name  her  as  a  physician  in 
any  sense  of  the  word.  The  medical  profession  is 
too  noble  to  be  degraded  in  such  a  manner!  " 

"  Oh,  doctor,"  cried  Carolina,  reproachfully,  "  if 
you  could  only  hear  the  beautiful  way  in  which 
she  speaks  of  you !  " 

"Oh,  doctor,  aren't  you  a  little  severe?"  asked 
Mrs.  Winchester. 

Noel  St.  Quentin  smothered  an  amused  laugh. 

"  Pooh !  "  cried  Kate.  "  Why  pay  any  attention 
to  him?  He's  o-only  a  man,  and  men  are  always 
wrong!  H-he's  talking  through  his  h-hat,  that's 
w-what  he's  doing.  He's  jealous." 

She  was  sitting  near  St.  Quentin,  and,  turning  to 
him  under  cover  of  the  conversation,  she  mur 
mured  : 

"  What  are  you  laughing  at  behind  your  hand  ?  " 


124  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  I  was  simply  remarking  a  phenomenon  that  I 
have  often  remarked  before,  and  that  is,  that  Chris 
tian  Science  seems  to  possess  a  peculiar  power  —  " 

"  Oh,  oh !  are  you  going  over  to  the  enemy  ?  " 
asked  Kate. 

"  You  didn't  let  me  finish.  I  was  going  to  say 
that  it  possesses  a  peculiar  power  of  making  well- 
bred  people  forget  what  is  due  a  civilized  commu 
nity.  I  have  never,  I  think,  heard  so  much  rudeness, 
such  rank  inelegance,  such  brutal  prejudice  ex 
pressed  on  any  subject  which  polite  society  dis 
cusses.  It  takes  Christian  Science  every  time  to 
make  people  absolutely  insulting  to  their  best 
friends." 

"  Funny,  isn't  it  ?  I  don't  mind  it  so  much  since 
Carolina  got  into  it;  she  is  so  honest  and  so  brave 
about  answering  it,  b-but  I  used  to  hate  it  so  it 
c-cankered  the  roof  of  my  mouth  j-just  to  speak 
the  name  of  it." 

"  Another  curious  thing  I  have  noticed,"  said 
St.  Quentin,  speaking  for  Kate's  ear  only,  "  is  that 
those  who  hate  it  most  violently  at  first  generally 
end  by  adopting  it,  so  look  out !  " 

"  You  don't  mean  it ! "  cried  Kate,  in  such  a 
horror-stricken  voice  that  every  one  heard  her. 
"  D-don't  ask  me  what  we  are  t-talking  about,  be 
cause  it  is  not  f-fit  for  you  to  hear,"  she  cried. 

"  Carolina,"  said  Mr.  Howard,  tactfully,  "  please 


CAROLINA  LEE  125 

tell  us  what  you  have  found  in  Christian  Science. 
I  have  always  had  a  great  respect  for  your  intelli 
gence,  and  I  am  not  prepared  to  find  it  befogged  in 
this  instance,  or  that  you  have  been  deceived." 

He  never  forgot  the  luminous  gratitude  of  her 
look. 

"  Thank  you,  dear  Mr.  Howard.  Let  me  see 
if  I  can  tell  you  what  it  is  and  what  it  has  done  for 
me.  It  is  the  theory  of  mind  over  matter,  put  in 
practice  and  lived  up  to.  It  teaches  us  to  under 
stand  before  we  are  called  upon  to  believe.  It  is 
the  study  of  Christian  metaphysics,  or  metaphysics 
spiritualized.  It  takes  all  the  impossible  out  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  makes  them  understandable,  not  to 
a  fool,  but  to  the  wise  man,  —  the  man  capable  of 
understanding  a  great  matter.  Having  done  this 
for  the  brain,  it  teaches  so  absolutely  a  God  of  Love, 
a  God  who  is  both  father  and  mother  in  the  love 
and  yearning  tenderness  of  His  thought  toward  us, 
that  it  eliminates  all  fear  from  our  lives.  All  fear! 
Can  you  take  that  in  at  once  ?  It  makes  the  ninety- 
first  psalm  a  personal  talk  between  a  father  and  his 
dearly  loved  child.  To  me  it  sounds  just  as  if 
daddy  were  talking  to  me  from  the  Beyond.  That 
would  be  just  his  attitude  toward  me  if  he  possessed 
God's  power.  And  if  you  believe  it,  —  if  you  can 
once  let  yourself  believe  it,  it  makes  this  earth  in 
stantly  into  heaven." 


126  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  can  see  that  it  would,"  said  Mr. 
Howard.  "  But  do  not  Scientists  believe  that  it 
also  prospers  you  in  a  worldly  sense  ?  " 

"  Are  you  giving  Kate  everything  that  heart 
could  wish  now,  and  are  you  going  to  leave  her 
all  your  money  when  you  die?  "  asked  Carolina. 

"  That  knocked  his  eye  out,"  murmured  Kate, 
in  an  aside  to  St.  Quentin,  but  he  observed  that  she 
looked  singularly  pleased  when  Carolina  scored  a 
point. 

Mr.  Howard  waved  his  hand  in  a  slightly  depre 
catory  way. 

"Ah,  that  is  just  it!"  cried  Carolina.  "You 
are  thinking,  '  Oh,  but,  Carolina,  I  am  Kate's  own 
father,  and  God  is  just  God ! '  Heavenly  Father 
doesn't  mean  a  thing  to  most  Christians.  Chris 
tian  Scientists  can't  shirk  their  beliefs.  If  they  do, 
they  are  just  as  they  were  before,  —  pretending  or 
rather  trying  to  believe  what  they  feel  that  they 
ought  to  believe,  but  getting  no  satisfaction  and  no 
comfort  from  it.  A  Scientist  who  does  not  put  his 
belief  into  practice  can  neither  heal  his  own  body 
nor  others.  So  he  is  literally  forced  to  be  honest." 

"  Well,"  said  St.  Quentin,  "  I  can  easily  see 
where  the  supreme  and  slightly  irritating  happi 
ness  of  Christian  Scientists  comes  in.  I  could  be 
supremely  happy  myself  if  I  could  believe  in  it." 

"  So  could  I,"  declared  Kate.    "  A-and  I  suppose 


CAROLINA  LEE  127 

it  is  sheer  envy  on  my  part,  when  I  see  their 
Cheshire-cat  grins,  to  want  to  slap  their  faces  for 
being  happier  than  I  am !  " 

"  But  what  makes  them  so  happy?  "  asked  Mrs. 
Winchester,  plaintively.  "  Why  should  they  be  any 
happier  than  we  are?  We  both  have  the  same 
Bible,  and  I  flatter  myself  that  I  am  just  as  capable 
of  understanding  it  as  any  self-styled  priestess  of  a 
new  religion." 

"  But  do  you  understand  it,  Cousin  Lois?  "  asked 
Carolina,  gently. 

"  I  understand  all  that  is  good  for  me,  dear  child. 
I  understand  all  that  our  Lord  wants  me  to,  or  He 
would  have  made  me  Mrs.  Eddy  and  made  Mrs. 
Eddy,  Mrs.  Winchester.  We  are  fulfilling  God's 
will." 

"  I  d-don't  believe  that,  either,"  whispered  Kate 
to  St.  Quentin.  "I  —  I  have  to  admit  that  Caro 
lina's  God  is  a  more  consistent  Being  than  Mrs. 
Winchester's." 

"  But  you  have  not  answered  my  question,  Caro 
lina,"  said  Cousin  Lois. 

"  What  makes  us  so  happy  ?  Well,  I  wonder 
if  I  can  tell  you.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  the  relief 
of  dropping  all  anxiety.  We  don't  have  to  worry 
about  a  single  solitary  thing.  We  put  all  responsi 
bility  off  on  God.  You  know  it  says  '  Cast  thy 
burdens  on  the  Lord ! '  " 


128  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  But  how  can  you?  "  cried  Kate.  "I  —  I'm  sure 
I'd  like  to,  but  I  c-can't  get  my  own  consent." 

"  That's  exactly  it.  Well,  we  do  it.  Then,  hav 
ing  put  all  fear  out  of  our  lives,  what  is  there  left 
to  make  one  unhappy  ?  If  you  are  no  longer  afraid 
of  losing  your  health  or  your  money  or  of  dying 
or  of  being  maimed  or  injured  in  accidents  by  land 
or  sea,  or  of  old  age  or  any  misfortune  coming  to 
any  of  your  dear  ones,  so  that  it  leaves  you  per 
fectly  free  to  come  and  go  as  you  please,  to  eat  at 
all  hours  things  which  used  to  produce  indigestion, 
to  eat  lobster  and  ice-cream  together,  drink  strong 
coffee  late  at  night  and  drop  off  to  sleep  like  a  baby, 
and,  if  it  eliminates  all  dread  of  the  unseen  and  the 
unknowable,  what  more  is  there  left  to  fret  about, 
I'd  like  to  know?" 

"  How  about  waking  up  in  the  middle  of  the 
night  to  worry  about  your  debts?"  asked  St. 
Quentin. 

"  The  answer  to  that  is  that,  at  first  you  begin  by 
remembering  that  as  God  is  the  Source  of  all  sup 
ply,  if  you  are  consistent,  the  way  will  be  opened 
to  pay  your  debts.  And,  after  you  once  master 
that  comforting  fact,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  next 
thing  will  be  that  you  won't  wake  up  in  the  night 
to  worry  or  even  to  think." 

"  Carolina !"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Winchester,  "do 
you  mean  to  tell  me  that  you,  who  used  to  lie 


CAROLINA  LEE  129 

awake  hours  and  hours  every  night  of  your  life, 
can  sleep  through  till  morning?" 

"  I  do,  Cousin  Lois.  Often  actually  without  turn 
ing  over.  And  with  no  bad  dreams.  Can  you 
believe  me  ?  " 

Doctor  Col  fax  rose  abruptly,  as  if  he  could  bear 
no  more,  and  when,  with  a  little  more  leave-taking, 
St.  Quentin  had  offered  to  drive  Mrs.  Winchester 
back  to  Sherman's  in  his  new  motor-car,  and  the 
Howards  and  Carolina  were  left  alone,  Mr.  Howard 
turned  to  Carolina  and  said: 

"  Carol,  I  have  heard  a  great  deal,  here  and  there, 
about  your  interest  in  Guildford  and  your  wish  to 
restore  the  place.  Would  you  mind  telling  me  your 
plans?" 

"  Not  in  the  least,  Mr.  Howard.  The  place  has 
been  sold  under  its  mortgage,  as  you  doubtless 
know,  but  it  is  of  no  more  value  to  its  present  owner 
than  any  of  the  land  surrounding  it,  which  is 
equally  arable.  Its  only  value  to  us  was  because 
it  was  our  ancestral  estate.  It  has  a  water-front, 
and,  having  been  left  intact  for  over  two  hundred 
years,  its  timber  is  enormously  valuable.  If  I 
owned  it,  and  had  a  little  working  capital,  I  could 
pay  off  the  mortgage  and  restore  the  house  with 
the  timber  alone." 

"  Why,  how  is  that,  Carolina  ?  Is  it  so  extensive 
as  all  that?" 


130  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  It  is  only  about  two  thousand  acres,  —  a  mere 
handful  of  land  to  a  Northern  millionaire,  who  buys 
land  along  the  Hudson  and  in  the  Catskills  and 
Adirondacks  of  ten  times  that  amount,  but  tha.t  is 
a  very  decent  size  for  a  Southern  plantation.  But 
the  value  is  in  the  kind  of  timber.  It  is  long-leaf 
yellow  pine,  which  produces  turpentine  and  rosin 
first,  by  the  orchard  process,  then  what  is  left  is 
suitable  for  the  lumber  men,  and  the  fallen  trees 
and  stumps  for  the  new  process  of  making  turpen 
tine.  My  plan  was  to  sell  the  turpentine  rights  to 
the  orchard  people  for,  say,  three  years,  then  sell 
the  timber,  and  afterward  sell  the  stumpage  and 
refuse  to  the  patent  people,  or  perhaps  erect  a  plant 
myself.  There  is  a  tremendous  profit  in  turpentine 
and  a  constant  and  ready  market." 

Mr.  Howard  sat  in  a  large  armchair,  with  his 
finger-tips  together  and  his  head  bent  forward, 
looking  at  the  girl  from  under  his  heavy  eyebrows. 
He  was  amazed  at  her  statement  of  Guildford's  pos 
sibilities.  Hitherto  he  had  regarded  her  unknown 
plan  as  probably  only  a  woman's  sentimental  idea, 
and  doubtless  wild  and  impracticable. 

"  You  say  that  the  timber  has  been  untouched 
for  two  hundred  years  ?  " 

"  Practically  untouched.  We  had  it  examined 
four  years  ago,  and  I  have  heard  of  nothing  since." 

"  Is  any  of  this  land  suitable  for  cotton?  " 


CAROLINA  LEE  131 

"  Yes,  for  both  cotton  and  rice,  and  I  should 
raise  both.  There  is  no  reason  to  my  mind  why 
a  Southerner  should  not  be  as  thrifty  with  every 
acre  of  ground  as  the  Northerner  is,  nor  why  every 
inch  should  not  be  made  to  yield  in  America  as  it 
does  in  France." 

"  Right !  right !  And  the  Southerners  will  ac 
cept  such  incendiary  sentiments  from  you,  because 
you  are  one  of  them,  but,  when  I  ventured  some 
thing  on  the  same  order,  but  much  more  mild,  I  was 
called  '  a  damned  Yankee,'  who  wanted  to  '  make 
truck-farmers  out  of  gentlemen.'  ' 

"  Oh,  oh !  "  laughed  Carolina,  merrily.  "  How 
like  them  that  sounds !  You  know,  dear  Mr.  How 
ard,  they  think  we  have  no  gentlemen  in  the 
North." 

"  T-they  aren't  far  from  it,"  cried  Kate.  "  There 
are  f-few  gentlemen  anywhere  in  the  world,  accord 
ing  to  m-my  definition  of  one." 

"You  say  Guildford  is  sold?"  said  Mr.  How 
ard. 

"  Yes,  Sherman  was  obliged  to  mortgage  it,  but 
he  did  so  without  knowing  how  dearly  I  loved  it. 
Then  some  one  bought  the  mortgage  and  fore 
closed  it." 

"Why,  who  could  have  done  such  a  thing? 
There  must  have  been  a  motive.  Has  coal  been  dis 
covered  on  any  of  the  surrounding  property?" 


132  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  Not  that  I  know  of,"  said  Carolina,  in  a 
guarded  tone. 

"  Then  there  must  have  been  some  motive  in  the 
mind  of  the  purchaser,"  said  Mr.  Howard,  deci 
sively. 

Carolina  was  silent. 

"  Can  you  throw  any  light  on  the  subject, 
Carol  ?  "  he  persisted,  but  his  manner  was  so  kindly 
that  Carolina  could  not  take  offence. 

Her  reticence  arose  from  two  causes.  One,  her 
natural  wish  not  to  bruit  her  private  affairs  abroad, 
and  the  other  that  Mrs.  Goddard  had  enjoined 
strict  silence  on  her.  "  Nothing  can  be  lost  in 
Truth,"  Mrs.  Goddard  had  said,  "  nor  are  the  chan 
nels  of  God's  affluence  ever  clogged,  but  mortal 
mind  makes  laws  which  we  are  obliged  to  over 
come.  Therefore,  the  fewer  people  who  know  about 
it,  the  easier  our  work  will  be." 

However,  something  in  Mr.  Howard's  manner 
led  Carolina  to  suspect  that  he  was  not  seeking  to 
be  informed  out  of  idle  curiosity,  and  her  heart 
gave  a  bound  at  the  thought  that  perhaps  Divine 
Love  might  be  using  him  as  a  channel. 

Noticing  her  momentary  hesitation,  he  said  : 

"  You  need  not  fear  to  confide  in  me,  Carol. 
Perhaps  I  can  be  of  some  help  to  you." 

Again  she  hesitated.    She  knew  that  the  Howard 


CAROLINA  LEE  133 

family  knew  of  Colonel  Yancey's  attentions  to  her. 
Still  she  felt  that  she  must  venture. 

"  The  present  owner  of  Guildford  is  Colonel 
Yancey,"  she  said,  in  a  low  voice. 

"Colonel  Yancey!" 

"Colonel  Yancey!" 

"Colonel  Yancey!" 

And  so  occupied  was  each  listener  with  his  own 
thoughts  and  mental  processes  that  each  regarded 
that  exclamation  as  an  original  remark. 

Carolina  looked  from  one  to  the  other  of  them 
anxiously,  in  the  short  silence  which  followed. 

"  I  understand,"  said  Mr.  Howard,  slowly.  "  I 
think  —  I  —  understand !  " 

"  And  this  afternoon,"  Carolina  went  on,  "  I 
received  a  most  extraordinary  letter  from  him, 
dated  at  London,  making  me  a  present  of  Guild- 
ford." 

"Making  you  a  p-present  of  it!"  cried  Kate. 
"  What  g-gigantic  impudence !  " 

"  He  did  it  to  irritate  her  into  taking  some  notice 
of  him !  "  declared  Mrs.  Howard. 

"  H-he  did  it  to  show  her  how  h-helpless  she  is !  " 
cried  Kate.  "  He  knows  she  has  n-no  money.  But 
I  think  I  see  him  hanging  around  until  he  wears 
Carolina  out.  That  is  his  g-game!  A  n-nice  step- 
m-mother  you  w-would  make  to  those  two  children 
of  his,  —  and  the  1-little  one  a  cripple !  " 


134  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  Children !  "  cried  Carolina,  turning  white.  "  I 
never  knew  that  there  were  any!  He  never  men 
tioned  them." 

"  Oh,  h-he  didn't  want  to  d-discourage  you  t-too 
much,"  cried  Kate. 

"  And  one  of  them  —  the  little  one  —  a  cripple, 
did  you  say?  " 

The  eager  pity  in  Carolina's  voice  frightened 
Kate.  She  looked  at  Carolina  in  wonder.  The 
girl  was  leaning  forward  in  her  chair,  her  lips 
parted,  her  eyes  shining,  her  cheeks  blazing.  Kate 
felt  physically  sick  as  the  thought  flashed  through 
her  mind  that  perhaps  this  altruistic  pity  might 
rush  her  friend  into  the  marriage  with  Colonel 
Yancey,  which  even  Guild  ford  had  been  unable  to 
do. 

"  Where  is  the  child  ?  "  asked  Carolina. 

"  She  is  at  the  Exmoor  Hospital.  Her  aunt, 
Sue  Yancey,  brought  here  there  last  week  for  an 
examination.  They  are  trying  to  gain  Colonel 
Yancey's  consent  to  an  operation." 

"How  do  you  know  all  this?"  asked  Kate's 
mother. 

"  I  went  there  to  take  some  flowers  to-day,  and 
I  saw  this  child,  —  she  is  a  little  beauty,  —  and  I 
asked  Doctor  Shourds  who  she  was  and  he  told 
me.  The  trouble  is  with  her  ankles.  Her  feet 
are  perfectly  formed,  but  they  turn  in  and  she 


CAROLINA  LEE  135 

can't  bear  her  weight  upon  them,  nor  walk  a 
step." 

"  She  can  walk !  "  said  Carolina,  in  a  low,  earnest 
voice.  "  God,  in  His  Divine  Love,  never  made  a 
crippled  baby !  " 

Something  smarted  in  Mr.  Howard's  eyes.  He, 
was  no  believer  in  Christian  Science,  but  he  loved 
little  children,  and  Carolina's  tone  of  deep  and 
quiet  conviction  wrenched  his  heart. 

"  Carol,  Carol !  "  wailed  Kate,  wringing  her  nose 
and  mopping  her  eyes,  with  utter  disregard  of  their 
redness,  "  you  do  make  me  howl  so !  " 

"  Carolina,"  said  Mr.  Howard,  suddenly,  "  you 
know  that  I  do  not  personally  subscribe  to  the 
teachings  of  your  new  religion,  but  I  am  an  ob 
server  of  human  nature,  and  I  know  the  hall-marks 
of  real  Christianity.  I  have  seen  you  to-night  keep 
your  temper  under  trying  circumstances,  defend 
your  faith  with  spirit,  and  exemplify  the  command 
to  love  your  enemies,  and  I  want  to  tell  you  that  if 
there  is  anything  I  can  do  toward  financing  a  plan 
to  buy  Guildford  from  Colonel  Yancey,  and  install 
ing  you  there  to  pursue  your  life-work,  you  can 
count  on  me." 

Carolina  made  an  attempt  to  speak,  but  her  eyes 
swam  in  tears,  and  she  buried  her  face  in  her  arm. 

"  Oh,  daddy !  daddy !  D-dear  old  daddy !  "  cried 
Kate,  dancing  up  and  down  in  her  excitement. 


136  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  I  knew  y-you  were  up  to  something !  Y-you  may 
not  care  for  C-Christian  Science,  b-but,  when  you 
s-see  a  good  thing,  you  know  enough  to  p-push  it 
along!" 


CHAPTER   X. 

CROSS    PURPOSES 

"  NOEL  must  take  me  for  a  f-fool  if  he  thinks 
I  don't  see  through  him!"  said  Kate,  angrily,  to 
her  own  image  in  the  glass. 

It  was  about  three  months  after  Mr.  Howard 
had  offered  to  help  Carolina  to  regain  Guildford. 

"  H-he  wants  to  p-pump  me,"  she  went  on,  ad 
justing  her  motor  veil.  "  I  d-don't  mind  trying  his 
automobile,  b-but  I  hate  to  t-think  he  takes  me  for 
a  s-sucker !  " 

She  rummaged  viciously  in  her  top  drawer  for 
her  goggles. 

"  I  wonder  if  he  th-thinks  I  don't  know  he  asked 
Carol  first.  Men  are  s-such  fools !  But  j-just  wait ! 
He  wants  m-me  to  tell  him  things.  M-maybe  I 
won't  g-give  him  a  run  for  his  money ! " 

But,  as  she  ran  down  the  steps  and  jumped  into 
the  powerful  new  racing  machine,  all  outward  trace 
of  vexation  was  gone,  and  St.  Quentin  was  quite 
as  excusable  as  most  men  who  believe  they  can 
outwit  a  clever  woman. 

Not  that  St.  Quentin  was  particularly  noticeable 
137 


138  CAROLINA  LEE 

for  his  conceit.  He  seemed  like  the  majority  of 
men,  who  are  merely  self-absorbed.  Yet  in  many 
respects  he  was  quite  different. 

For  example,  he  was  interested  in  other  things 
besides  his  motor-cars.  He  read,  thought  even,  and 
was  somewhat  interested  in  other  people's  mental 
processes,  —  a  thing  which  Kate  quite  overlooked 
in  her  flash  of  jealousy,  for  Kate  had  been  obliged 
to  admit  to  herself  that,  if  the  signs  spoke  truly 
and  Noel  were  really  in  love  with  Carolina,  it  would 
be  a  melancholy  thing  for  her  to  face. 

"  But  I'm  game !  "  she  often  said  to  herself.  "  I 
won't  give  up  the  fight  until  I  have  to.  Then,  if  I 
get  left,  I  won't  howl." 

There  were  several  things  in  Kate's  favour. 
First,  Carolina  showed  no  symptoms  of  being  in 
love  with  Noel,  although  she  must  know  that  she 
could  have  him  if  she  wanted  him.  Second,  but 
this  thought  gave  her  almost  the  same  discomfort 
as  if  Carolina  should  fancy  St.  Quentin,  Carolina 
was  in  a  fair  way  to  become  violently  interested  in 
another  man,  —  Colonel  Yancey. 

The  thought  of  how  this  news  would  stir  Noel 
brought  such  a  colour  into  Kate's  cheeks  that  Noel, 
turning  his  eyes  for  the  fraction  of  a  second  from 
the  wheel,  said: 

"  Motoring  becomes  you,  Kate." 

"  I-it's  more  than  I  "can  s-say  for  y-you,  then," 


CAROLINA  LEE  139 

she  answered.  "  You  look  like  a  burglar  in  that 
mask." 

"  Now  sit  tight,"  said  St.  Quentin,  "  I'm  going 
to  let  her  out  a  little  here." 

Noel's  idea  of  letting  her  out  a  little  was  more 
than  Kate's  nerves  could  stand.  She  touched  Noel's 
arm  imploringly  and  he  obediently  slowed  up. 
Kate  could  hardly  get  her  breath. 

"Wasn't  that  fine?"  asked  St.  Quentin. 

"  It  was  s-simply  devilish.  I'd  rather  travel  in 
a  wheelbarrow.  It  g-gives  you  more  time  for  the 
scenery." 

"  You  are  just  like  Carolina.  She  hates  racing. 
She  likes  to  jog  along  about  like  this." 

Kate  leaned  over  and  looked  at  the  speedometer. 
They  were  going  at  the  rate  of  thirty  miles  an  hour. 

*'  P-poor  Carolina ! "  said  Kate,  mockingly. 
"  How  old-fashioned  we  both  are ! " 

Noel  laughed  and  slowed  up  a  little  more. 

"  There,  is  that  better?  "  he  asked,  with  the  tol 
eration  a  man  shows  when  he  is  fond  of  a  woman. 

"  Yes,  now  I  can  tell  the  trees  from  the  telegraph- 
poles.  A  m-moment  ago  I  thought  the  r-road  was 
fenced." 

"  What  is  Carolina  up  to  these  days  ?  I  haven't 
seen  her  for  over  a  fortnight,"  said  St.  Quentin. 

Kate  reluctantly  admired  him  for  being  so  honest 
about  it.  Most  men  would  have  tried  to  come  at 


140  CAROLINA  LEE 

it  from  around  the  corner.  Nevertheless,  she 
wanted  to  carry  out  her  original  purpose. 

"  She  goes  to  the  hospital  every  day." 

"The  hospital?     What  for?" 

"  Oh,  haven't  you  heard  ?  Then  I  have  some 
news  for  you." 

Kate  smiled  with  wicked  enjoyment.  Noel  was 
now  about  to  receive  a  dose  of  his  own  medicine, 
and  she  was  to  administer  it.  She  viciously  hoped 
it  was  in  her  power  to  make  him  as  uncomfortable 
over  Colonel  Yancey  as  he  made  her  about  Caro 
lina. 

"  Well,  soon  after  —  why,  it  was  the  very  night 
you  were  at  our  house  —  after  you  and  Doctor  Col- 
fax  had  gone,  we  still  kept  on  talking",  a-and  it  came 
out  that  Colonel  Yancey  had  never  told  Carolina 
that  he  had  children,  whereas  he  has  t-two,  —  the 
dearest  little  creatures,  —  b-but  the  little  one, 
Gladys,  is  a  hopeless  cripple." 

St.  Quentin  turned  with  a  start. 

"  Yes,  that's  just  the  way  it  struck  me.  Of 
course  you  g-get  the  vista.  Carolina  instantly  in 
vestigated  her  c-case,  and  she  and  Mrs.  Goddard 
got  it  out  of  the  doctors  that  there  was  only  about 
one  chance  in  ten  of  the  operation  being  successful, 
whereas  —  well,  N-Noel,  I  am  not  sentimental,  but 
I  thank  God  I  —  I  am  human,  and  when  I  s-saw  the 
frightened  look  in  the  b-blue  eyes  of  that  1-little 


CAROLINA  LEE  141 

child  —  that  b-baby  —  she's  only  six  —  when  she 
found  out  th-they  were  going  to  cut  her,  I  c-could 
have  screamed.  As  it  w-was,  I  c-called  them  crim 
inals  and  b-burst  out  crying,  and  I  b-begged  Carol 
to  c-cable  Colonel  Yancey  for  p-permission  to  try 
Christian  Science." 

"  You  did  just  right,"  said  St.  Quentin.  "  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  legitimate  and  proper  place  for 
Christian  Science  is  in  a  desperate  case  like  that, 
when  doctors  agree  that  they  are  practically  power 
less." 

"I  —  I  think  so,  too.  And  especially  when  time 
cuts  no  i-ice,  —  not  like  a  fever,  you  know,  which 
must  b-be  checked  at  once.  Well,  Carol  cabled, 
and  Colonel  Yancey  answered  in  these  very  words, 
*  Have  no  faith,  but  must  respect  your  intelligence. 
Do  as  you  think  best.' ' 

"By  Jove!" 

"  You  see  ?  Oh,  Noel,  it's  s-such  a  comfort  to 
t-talk  to  you.  Y-you're  so  clever.  Most  men  are 
f-fools.  But  do  you  s-see  the  diabolical  flattery  of  > 
the  cablegram  ?  Do  you  also  see  that  it  puts  Carolina 
in  the  p-place  of  the  c-child's  mother?  Oh,  when 
I  saw  the  c-colour  come  into  her  face,  as  she  read 
that  cablegram,  and  that  s-sort  of  d-dewy  mother- 
look  she  s-sometimes  gets  in  her  eyes,  I  —  I  could 
have  s-slapped  Colonel  Yancey's  face  for  him!" 

"  I  know,"  said  Noel,  in  a  low,   strained  tone 


142  CAROLINA  LEE 

which  woke  Kate  from  her  enthusiasm  to  a  sense 
of  her  own  folly.  Her  face  flamed. 

"Well,  I'll  be  switched!"  she  said  to  herself. 
"  If  N-Noel  took  me  for  a  s-sucker,  he  didn't  half 
state  the  case." 

"  Why  don't  you  go  on  ?  "  asked  St.  Quentin. 
He  looked  at  her  flushed  face  and  quivering  lips 
in  surprise.  "  Why,  I  didn't  think  she  had  it  in 
her  to  show  such  feeling!"  he  said  to  himself. 

"  I  am  the  m-more  afraid,"  she  went  on,  looking 
straight  before  her,  "  b-because  Carol  doesn't  care 
for  any  other  m-man,  so  she  is  f-free  to  fall  in 
1-love  with  Colonel  Yancey,  if  she  wants  to.  He 
is  only  a  little  over  forty,  is  quite  the  most  fascinat 
ing  man  I  ever  m-met,  and  he  owns  Guildford." 

If  Kate  expected  St.  Quentin  to  betray  any  vio 
lent  emotion  on  hearing  these  statements,  she  was 
doomed  to  disappointment.  However,  she  seemed 
satisfied  at  Noel's  utter  silence.  A  smile  quivered 
at  the  corners  of  her  mouth. 

"  Well?  "  said  St.  Quentin  at  last. 

"  C-can't  you  picture  the  rest  ?  Can't  you  see 
Carol  and  Mrs.  Goddard  going  there  d-day  after 
day,  until  Mrs.  Goddard  got  permission  to  move 
Gladys  to  her  house  ?  I  b-believe  they  were  to  t-take 
her  there  this  morning." 

"  Is  there  any  improvement  in  the  child?  "  asked 
St.  Quentin. 


CAROLINA  LEE  143 

"  A  little.  She  is  old  enough  to  understand  and 
help  herself,  and  she  knows  she  is  g-going  to  get 
well,  or  as  she  puts  it,  '  I  know  that  I  am  well.' 
Her  ankles  have  become  flexible  and  her  little  feet 
can  b-be  put  straight  with  the  hand,  b-but,  as  yet, 
they  don't  stay  straight.  S-she  has  not  gained 
c-control  over  them." 

"Can  she  stand  at  all?" 

"  J-just  barely.     But  she  s-sinks  right  down." 

"  Do  you  believe  she  will  be  cured?  " 

"  I  s-suppose  you  will  think  I  am  f-foolish,  but 
I  do." 

"  Not  at  all,  Kate.  I  am  not  sure  but  that  I 
believe  it  myself."  x 

"  Why,  Noel  S-St.  Quentin !  And  you  a  Roman 
Catholic!" 

"  Well,  why  not  ?  Wouldn't  I  be  an  acceptable 
convert  if  I  should  decide  to  join  their  ranks  ?  " 

"  I-indeed  you  would  not !  "  cried  Kate,  delighted 
to  be  able  to  administer  a  stinging  rebuff.  "  I  have 
an  idea  that  they  would  refuse  even  to  instruct 
you  without  a  w-written  permission  from  your 
priest.  Ah,  ha!  Can't  you  j-just  see  your  con 
fessor  g-giving  up  a  1-little  white  w-woolly  lamb 
like  you?  Y-ye  are  of  more  value  than  many 
s-sparrows." 

St.  Quentin  accelerated  the  speed  of  the  machine 


144  CAROLINA  LEE 

so  suddenly  that  the  motor  seemed  to  leap  into  the 
air. 

"  Oh,  Lord,  Noel  !  D-don't  do  that  again  !  The 
m-machine  can't  feel  it!  N-now  if  you  had  struck 
your  horse  —  " 

St.  Quentin  turned  on  her  savagely,  but  said  noth 
ing. 

"  T-that's  right,  Noel.  D-don't  speak.  There's 
a  good  deal  in  being  a  g-gentleman,  after  all.  If 
you  h-hadn't  been,  you  would  have  said,  '  S-shut 
up,  Kate!'" 

"  If  your  husband,"  said  St.  Quentin,  slowly, 
4(  ever  goes  to  jail  for  wife-beating,  I  shall  bail  him 
out." 

"  I-it's  strange  how  men  agree  with  one  another," 
said  Kate,  pensively.  "  M-my  cousin  has  always 
said  that  a  g-good  beating  with  a  bed-slat  would 
about  fit  my  c-case." 

"  Bright  boy  !  "  said  St.  Quentin.  "  He  ought 
to  get  on  in  the  world." 

"  Hadn't  we  better  turn  back,  Noel  ?  I  have 
an  engagement  at  five." 

"  Do  you  have  to  go  home  to  dress,  or  shall  I 
drop  you  anywhere  ?  " 

"  I  was  just  going  to  see  Gladys  for  half  an  hour. 
You  may  drop  me  at  Mrs.  Goddard's  if  you 


"  Will  Carolina  be  there?  "  asked  St.  Quentin. 


CAROLINA  LEE  145 

"Yes,  I  think  so.  Do  you  want  to  see  her?" 
asked  Kate,  innocently. 

"  Well,  I'd  rather  like  to  see  her  with  the  child. 
Will  you  let  me  come  in  with  you?  " 

"  By  all  means.     I  should  be  delighted." 

"  Then  I  can  bring  you  home  afterward." 

"  Most  thoughtful  of  you,"  murmured  Kate. 

"  I  say,  Kate,"  said  St.  Quentin,  after  a  pause, 
"  keep  your  eye  open  for  a  toy  shop,  will  you  ? 
One  oughtn't  to  call  on  a  child  without  some  little 
present,  ought  one  ?  " 

"  You  won't  find  one  up  in  this  part  of  the  coun 
try,  such  as  you  want,"  said  Kate.  "  Let  her  out 
a  little  and  we  will  have  time  to  go  down  to  Twenty- 
third  Street." 

When  they  came  out  of  the  shop,  even  Kate,  ex 
travagant  as  she  was,  was  aghast. 

"  Noel,  it's  w-wicked  to  spend  money  like  that. 
Why,  that  child  is  only  a  b-baby.  She  can't  appre 
ciate  all  those  hand-made  clothes  for  that  doll. 
And  real  lace !  It's  absurd !  " 

"  Kate,"  said  St.  Quentin,  slowly,  "  if  you  were 
that  crippled  baby,  I'd  have  bought  you  everything 
in  that  whole  shop !  " 

A  lump  came  into  Kate's  throat  so  suddenly  that 
it  choked  her. 

When  they  arrived  at  Mrs.  Goddard's,  there  was 
no  need  to  ask  the  butler  if  the  ladies  were  at  home, 


146  CAROLINA  LEE 

for,  instead  of  the  formal  household  Mrs.  Goddard 
used  to  boast,  the  house  seemed  now  to  have  become 
a  home.  Even  the  butler  looked  human,  as  laugh 
ter  and  childish  screams  of  delight  floated  down 
the  hall  from  the  second  floor. 

"  Perkins,  what  is  it  ?  "  asked  Kate,  pausing  sud 
denly. 

"  Little  Miss  Gladys  finds  that  she  can  stand 
alone,  Miss  Howard,  and  we  are  so  delighted  none 
of  the  servants  can  be  got  to  do  their  work.  They 
just  stand  around  and  gape  at  her  and  clap  their 
hands." 

But  Perkins  himself  was  smiling  as  Kate  rushed 
past  him  up  the  stairs. 

"  Here,  Perkins,  my  man,"  said  St.  Quentin, 
"  lend  a  hand  with  this,  will  you,  and  send  a  foot 
man  out  to  the  motor  for  the  rest  of  those  parcels." 

The  sight  which  met  the  eye  was  enough  to  make 
any  one's  heart  leap,  as  Kate  flung  open  the  door 
and  joined  the  group. 

There  were  Mrs.  Goddard,  Rosemary,  Miss  Sue 
Yancey,  Carolina,  and  the  two  children,  Emmeline 
and  Gladys.  Gladys  was  standing  in  the  corner, 
partly  supporting  herself  by  leaning  in  the  angle 
of  the  walls,  but  standing,  nevertheless,  bearing 
her  entire  weight  upon  her  slender,  beautiful  little 
feet,  which  never  before  had  been  of  any  use  to 
her,  nor,  in  their  distorted  position,  even  sightly. 


CAROLINA  LEE  147 

Now  they  were  in  a  normal  position  and  actually 
bearing  her  weight,  and  so  excited  was  everybody 
that  no  one  turned  even  to  give  the  newcomers  a 
greeting.  Rosemary  and  Carolina  were  kneeling 
on  the  floor  in  front  of  the  child,  while  Mrs.  God- 
dard  was  audibly  affirming  that  Gladys  could  walk. 
Gladys  alone  looked  up  at  Kate  and  St.  Quentin, 
and  smiled  a  welcome. 

"  Thee,  Katie !  "  she  lisped,  "  Gladyth  can  thtand 
alone!" 

"  Gladys  can  walk,"  affirmed  Mrs.  Goddard,  and, 
as  they  saw  the  child  cautiously  begin  to  remove 
her  hands  from  the  supporting  walls  and  evidently 
intend  to  attempt  a  step,  Kate  snatched  the  huge 
box  from  Noel's  hands,  and,  hastily  unfastening  it, 
silently  held  up  before  her  a  gorgeously  beautiful 
French  doll,  in  a  long  baby  dress,  frilled  and 
trimmed  with  cobweb  lace,  and  calculated  not  only 
to  set  a  child  crazy,  but  to  turn  the  heads  of  the 
grown-ups,  for  such  a  doll  is  not  often  seen. 

No  one  saw  it  at  first.  Then  Gladys,  looking  up 
for  encouragement,  glanced  at  Kate,  and,  as  her 
eyes  rested  on  the  baby  doll,  with  one  delighted 
mother-cry  of  "  Baby,  baby !  "  she  started  forward 
and  fluttered  across  the  floor,  light  as  any  thistle 
down,  until  she  clasped  the  doll  in  her  arms,  and 
Kate  seized  her  little  swaying  body  to  keep  her 
from  falling. 


148  CAROLINA  LEE 

"See  what  Divine  Love  has  wrought!"  ex 
claimed  Mrs.  Goddard,  in  a  voice  so  filled  with 
gratitude  and  a  reverent  exultation  that  it  sounded 
like  a  prayer. 

There  were  tense  exclamations,  excited  laughter 
which  ended  in  sudden  tears,  quivering  smiles  and 
murmurs  of  thanksgiving,  until  Carolina,  turning 
to  Noel,  said: 

"  Noel,  I  am  sure  that  doll  was  your  doing," 
when  error  again  claimed  Kate  for  its  own,  for 
the  look  of  gratitude  Noel  sent  in  return. 

"  Lord,  but  this  Christian  Science  does  make  me 
t-tired,"  murmured  Kate  to  herself,  as  she  released 
Gladys,  and  the  two  children,  in  a  fever  of  ex 
citement,  sat  down  on  the  floor  to  undress  the 
doll.  "  F-first  we  go  up,  up,  up,  and  th-then  we  go 
down,  down,  down!  J-just  as  surely  as  I  have  an 
up  feeling,  I  g-get  it  in  the  neck  inside  of  the  next 
thirty  seconds.  A-at  any  rate,  there's  no  m-monot- 
ony  about  it.  It  k-keeps  you  guessing  where  it  will 
hit  you  n-next." 

Kate  unconsciously  made  such  a  wry  face  as  she 
murmured  these  words  under  her  breath  that  Rose 
mary  leaned  over  and  whispered : 

"What's  the  matter,  Kate?" 

"  I  th-think  I've  got  an  attack  of  what  you  call 
Error,  but  it  cramps  me  most  cruel.  Or  d-do  you 


CAROLINA  LEE  149 

think  I  could  have  caught  cholera  infantum  from 
holding  that  d-doll  baby  ?  " 

"  Kate,  you  are  so  funny !  "  laughed  Rosemary. 

"  I  s-spend  a  good  deal  of  v-valuable  time  amus 
ing  m-myself,"  said  Kate.  "  I  sorta  have  to,  in  a 
way.  Everybody  else  seems  o-occupied." 

As  Kate  made  this  indiscreet  remark  about  error, 
Rosemary  looked  back  at  the  other  groups  in  the 
room,  and  surprised  Noel  looking  at  Carolina  with 
an  expression  in  his  eyes  he  gave  to  no  other,  and 
again  a  spasm  of  pain  crossed  Kate's  face.  At  once 
Rosemary  understood,  and  Kate  saw  that  she  did. 
Kate's  face  flamed.  She  pushed  Rosemary  into  the 
window-seat,  thrust  her  violently  down,  and  pulled 
the  thick  crimson  curtains  together,  shutting  them 
in. 

"  It's  n-not  so !  "  she  whispered,  excitedly.  "  I 
know  w-what  you  think,  b-but  it's  not  true.  He 
loves  C-Carolina,  and  in  time,  no  doubt,  she'll  1-love 
him.  I  d-don't  see  how  she  can  help  it.  I  d-don't 
care." 

"  Oh,  Kate,  that  is  not  true !  I  certainly  hope 
Carolina  will  not  fall  in  love  with  him.  He  is  not 
suited  to  her,  she  doesn't  want  him,  and  he  is 
suited  to  you.  You  can't  deny  it." 

"  I  do  d-deny  it !  "  cried  Kate,  but  the  look  that 
swept  over  her  face  at  Rosemary's  remark  belied 
her  words.  "  And  you  are  to  t-think  no  more  about 


150  CAROLINA  LEE 

it.  And  Rosemary  Goddard,  if  you  go  to  t-treating 
the  situation,  as  if  N-Noel  and  I  were  a  couple  of 
hunchbacks  or  yellow  fevers  or  s-snake-bites,  I'll 
h-half  kill  you !  I  —  I'm  no  subject  for  p-prayer, 
let  me  tell  you  that  now." 

"  Kate,  I  wouldn't  think  of  such  a  thing!  "  cried 
Rosemary,  biting  her  lips.  "  Now  go  on.  There's 
Noel  calling  for  you  to  go  home !  " 

"  As  if  she  could  mislead  me,"  said  Rosemary 
to  herself.  "  She  wouldn't  even  try  if  she  could 
have  seen  her  own  face  when  I  said,  on  purpose  to 
try  her,  '  There's  Noel  calling  you  to  go  home.' 
Well,  bless  her  dear  heart!  I  hope  her  love-affair 
will  turn  out  as  luckily  as  mine  has,  and  without 
all  my  misery.  Good-bye,  all ! " 


CHAPTER   XI. 

IN    WHICH    TRUTH    HOLDS    HER   OWN 

PERHAPS,  as  a  student  of  human  nature,  Roscoe 
Howard  rather  looked  forward  with  enjoyment  to 
his  encounter  with  Colonel  Yancey  in  the  matter  of 
the  purchase  of  Guildford.  With  the  promptness 
and  decision  which  gave  the  fundamental  strength 
to  his  character,  he  at  once  investigated  the  whole 
transaction,  beginning  with  the  private  history  of 
the  syndicate,  which,  in  his  bitterness,  Sherman 
Lee  was  only  too  ready  to  give  him.  He  drew  from 
Carolina,  by  adroit  conversations,  much  of  the 
story  of  Colonel  Yancey's  connection  with  the  Lee 
family  abroad,  and,  to  a  man  with  an  imagination, 
he  soon  was  able  to  formulate,  though  by  a  some 
what  elliptical  process,  a  theory  concerning  Colonel 
Yancey's  designs  on  Carolina,  which  fitted  the  case 
as  it  stood,  but  which  needed  a  personal  interview 
with  the  colonel  to  enable  Mr.  Howard  to  decide 
whether  the  man  was  anxious  to  marry  Carolina 
from  love  of  herself  alone  or  with  the  ulterior 
motive  of  having  discovered  some  unsuspected 
source  of  wealth  on  the  Guildford  estate. 


152  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  This  man  is  a  very  accomplished  rascal !  "  he 
said  to  himself,  as  he  followed  the  winding  clues 
in  the  labyrinth  of  the  colonel's  transactions.  "  I 
feel  sure  that  Sherman's  money  is  done  for.  He 
will  never  get  any  of  that  back.  Yet  Yancey,  rascal 
as  he  is,  is  too  shrewd  to  put  himself  in  the  clutches 
of  the  law.  However,  he  is  also  clever  enough  to 
be  willing  to  have  Sherman  think  him  a  fool  for 
failing.  At  the  same  time,  I  believe  that  Yancey 
has  made  a  fortune.  The  question  is,  where  is  it  ?  " 

He  fell  to  musing  on  the  man's  extraordinary 
career.  Serving  governments  with  honesty  for 
years,  waiting,  studying,  learning,  biding  his  time 
until  he  could  make  a  grand  haul  without  fear  of 
detection,  with  his  honourable  career  to  throw  sus 
picion  off  the  scent,  and  finding  his  quarry  at  last 
in  wrecking  the  orphaned  children  of  his  best 
friend. 

It  was  a  curious  type  of  character,  —  a  curious 
code  of  honour,  —  but  not  phenomenal.  It  simply 
showed  the  erTect  of  climate  on  a  man's  definition 
of  honesty.  Doubtless  Colonel  Yancey  considered 
the  syndicate  of  New  Yorkers  "  damned  Yankees," 
and  therefore  his  legitimate  prey.  Did  not  the 
carpet-baggers  rob  the  South?  And,  as  to  getting 
possession  of  Guildford,  even  if  only  in  order  to 
force  Carolina  to  accept  him  with  it  —  all's  fair  in 
love  and  war.  Doubtless  Colonel  Yancey  was  an 


CAROLINA  LEE  153 

honourable  man  in  his  own  eyes,  and  ready  to  de 
fend  his  honour  to  the  death  if  necessary.  Mr. 
Howard  had  spent  several  years  in  the  South,  and 
did  not  underestimate  his  personal  danger  in  the 
coming  interview  should  he  impinge  on  what  the 
colonel  was  pleased  to  call  his  "  honour."  Mr.  How 
ard  felt  that  he  must  fortify  himself  with  serpent- 
wisdom  and  dove-harmlessness. 

For  Colonel  Yancey  was  coming  home,  and  Mr. 
Howard  had  arranged  for  a  meeting  with  him 
without  stating  his  errand. 

He  was  prepared  for  a  confident,  even  a  dignified, 
bearing  in  the  colonel,  but  let  it  be  said  that  he  had 
not  looked  for  the  jaunty  air  with  which  Colonel 
Yancey  met  him  when  Mr.  Howard  called  at  his 
office  at  the  time  appointed.  Considering  that  Colo 
nel  Yancey  must  be  aware  that  Mr.  Howard  knew 
of  the  crookedness  of  the  whole  transaction  in  oil, 
his  audacity  was,  to  say  the  least,  extraordinary 
when  he  rose,  held  out  his  hand  to  the  older  man, 
and  said,  genially: 

"  Well,   sir,   what   can    I    do   for  you  ? " 

The  impertinence  of  the  remark,  to  say  nothing 
of  its  bad  taste  under  the  circumstances,  for  a 
moment  staggered  even  the  Northerner's  good 
breeding,  and,  for  one  brief  breathing  spell,  Mr. 
Howard  felt  impelled  to  imperil  the  whole  situation 
by  the  trenchant  reply: 


154  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  Not  a  damned  thing,  sir !  " 

But  his  self-control  came  to  his  rescue,  and  with 
it  a  determination  to  master  the  natural  and  inevi 
table  irritation  which  many  Northern  men  feel  at 
being  called  upon  to  transact  business  with  a  South 
ern  man,  and  which  all  Southern  men  feel  when 
doing  business  with  Northern  men.  The  whole 
code  is  different  and  all  the  conditions  misunder 
stood.  Nor  will  there  be  harmony  until  each  en 
deavours  to  obtain  and  comprehend  the  other's 
point  of  view. 

It  was  only  by  detaining  the  conversation  upon 
strictly  neutral  grounds  for  a  few  moments  that 
Mr.  Howard  was  able  to  see  that  the  fault  lay 
largely  with  himself.  Perhaps  Colonel  Yancey  was 
unaware  that  his  visitor  knew  anything  of  his  pri 
vate  history  or  was  at  all  interested  in  the  Lees.  It 
was  only  Mr.  Howard's  smarting  under  the  real  in 
juries  Colonel  Yancey  had  inflicted  on  Winchester 
Lee's  children  which  caused  him  to  resent  Colonel 
Yancey's  assumption  of  the  role  which  he  essayed 
on  all  occasions  and  inevitably  with  strangers.  At 
first,  he  was  the  bland,  suave,  genial,  open-hearted 
Southerner.  But  at  the  first  hint  of  Mr.  Howard's 
errand,  the  openness  snapped  shut.  The  thin  lips 
were  compressed,  the  crafty  eyes  narrowed,  and 
Colonel  Wayne  Yancey,  like  a  pirate  craft,  "  pre 
pared  to  repel  boarders." 


CAROLINA  LEE  155 

"Now,  Mr.  Howard,"  he  said,  "  in  broaching 
the  subject  of  the  purchase  of  Guildford,  may  I 
ask  whom  you  are  representing?" 

"  Why  should  you  imagine  that  I  am  represent 
ing  any  one  ?  "  inquired  Mr.  Howard.  "  Why  not 
imagine  that  I  want  Guildford  for  my  own  use? 
It  is  a  good  property.  It  has  a  water-front.  It 
is  picturesque.  Why  not  suppose  that  I  merely 
want  to  acquire  a  winter  home  in  South  Carolina?  " 

"  Then  why  not  look  at  property  just  as  good, 
nearer  to  the  town  of  Enterprise  than  Guildford 
lies,  and  with  a  good  stone  house  already  on  it? 
For  instance,  my  sister's  late  husband's  place, 
Whitehall,  is  for  sale." 

"Thank  you  for  mentioning  it,"  said  Mr.  How 
ard,  "  but  I  especially  want  Guildford." 

"Then  —  pardon  me  for  saying  so  —  you  must 
have  some  ulterior  motive  for  wanting  it,  for  the' 
place  is  worth  no  more  than  the  adjoining  property 
of  Sunnymede  or  half  a  dozen  other  contiguous" 
estates." 

"  That  is  exactly  the  thought  which  came  to  me, 
if  you  will  pardon  me  for  mentioning  it,  when  I 
heard  that  you  had  bought  and  foreclosed  the  mort 
gage  on  Guildford !  " 

Mr.  Howard  laid  his  finger-tips  together,  with' 
a  quiet  satisfaction  in  thus  having  trapped  his  an-" 
tagonist.  But  he  little  knew  Wayne  Yancey. 


156  CAROLINA  LEE 

With  an  assumption  of  honesty,  which  fairly 
took  the  Northern  man's  breath  away,  Colonel 
Yancey  looked  first  out  of  the  window,  as  if  to 
consider,  and  then  said: 

"  You  are  right,  Mr.  Howard,  and  to  a  man  of 
honour  like  yourself,  I  will  tell  you  the  real  reason 
why  I  bought  the  mortgage  on  Guildford,  why  I 
foreclosed  it  in  order  to  own  the  place,  and  why 
I  hope  you  will  drop  the  idea  of  purchasing  it, 
for  I  tell  you  frankly  at  the  outset  that,  if  you  press 
the  matter,  I  shall  simply  put  a  prohibitive  price 
upon  the  property,  and  you  have  no  legal  recourse 
by  which  you  can  compel  me  to  part  with  it.  Please 
bear  this  in  mind.  And  for  explanation  of  this 
unalterable  decision  —  here  it  is.  I  love  Carolina 
Lee.  I  told  her  father  so  when  she  was  only  a  girl 
of  sixteen  in  London.  He  gave  me  his  blessing, 
and  told  me  he  would  rather  leave  her  to  me  than 
to  any  other  man  in  the  world.  He  was  my  dearest 
friend.  I  was  the  unhappy  means  of  bringing  a 
loss  on  Sherman,  which  it  shall  be  my  life-work 
to  make  good.  If  Winchester  Lee  can  hear  me  in 
the  place  where  he  has  gone,  he  knows  that  I  mean 
well  by  both  of  his  children.  I  adore  Carolina, 
but  she  has  refused  to  marry  me,  and,  knowing  her 
love  for  her  old  home,  I  obtained  possession  of  it 
in  order  to  restore  it  to  her.  If  you  do  not  believe 


CAROLINA  LEE  157 

that  I  mean  this,  ask  her  if  I  did  not  offer  her 
Guildford  as  a  free  gift." 

"  You  are  a  clever  man,  Colonel  Yancey,  and 
you  knew  then,  as  well  as  you  know  now,  that  to 
offer  a  girl  of  Carolina's  spirit  a  valuable  gift  like 
that  was  to  insult  the  Lee  pride.  What  did  you 
hope  to  gain  by  it  ?  " 

"  The  girl  herself !  I  confess  it  without  shame, 
sir.  I  would  move  heaven  and  earth  in  order  to 
have  that  girl  for  my  wife!  You  do  not  know 
Wayne  Yancey,  Mr.  Howard,  or  you  would  know 
that  that  means  more  than  appears  on  the  sur 
face." 

"  I  may  not  know  you  completely,  Colonel  Yan 
cey,  but  I  know  you  well  enough  to  believe  that 
part  of  your  statement  implicitly.  But  you  will 
never  win  her  either  by  force  or  by  coercion  of  any 
kind.  Give  her  a  free  hand  and  let  her  come  to  you 
of  her  own  accord,  or  she  will  not  come  at  all." 

By  the  expression  which  flitted  across  the  colo 
nel's  slightly  cruel  face  at  Mr.  Howard's  words, 
he  was  convinced  of  one  thing,  and  that  was  that 
the  man  was  honestly  and  deeply  in  love  with 
Carolina.  This  fact  illuminated  the  matter  some 
what. 

"  It  would  be  quite  true  with  horses,"  mused 
Colonel  Yancey.  "  And  a  blooded  horse  and  a 
spirited  woman  have  many  points  in  common." 


158  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  I  freely  confess  to  you  that  I  wish  to  purchase 
Guildford  in  order  to  let  Carolina  go  down  there 
and  work  her  will  with  the  place.  The  girl  has 
courage,  good  business  ideas;  she  is  a  friend  of 
my  daughter's,  and  I  am  interested  in  the  develop 
ment  of  her  character.  I  would  just  as  soon  leave 
you  to  make  the  same  arrangement  with  her  which 
I  propose  to  make,  if  she  would  consent  to  have 
money  transactions  with  you,  but  she  will  not.  For 
what  reason  you  and  she  probably  know.  I  confess 
that  I  do  not,  but  what  you  have  just  been  good 
enough  to  tell  me  concerning  your  feelings  toward 
her  would  seem  to  throw  light  upon  the  situation. 
Now,  may  I  make  a  suggestion  ?  " 

"  A  thousand,  if  you  will !  " 

"  Thank  you.  Now,  possibly  an  outsider  may  be 
able  to  give  you  a  new  point  of  view.  Suppose  you 
yield  to  Carolina's  wishes,  sell  me  the  place,  and 
thus  give  her  the  opportunity  to  carry  out  her  dead 
father's  plans.  You  thus  provide  her  with  a  cher 
ished  life-work.  You  know  the  Lees.  They  are 
proud  and  grateful.  To  whom  would  her  heart 
naturally  turn?  To  an  old  married  man  like  me, 
through  her  friendship  for  my  daughter,  or  to  a 
comparatively  young  man  like  yourself,  in  whose 
children  she  is  as  vitally  interested  as  she  must  have 
been  to  heal  your  baby  girl  ?  " 

Now  Mr.  Howard  was  deliberately  playing  upon 


CAROLINA  LEE  159 

the  man's  feelings,  but  he  was  not  prepared  for  the 
change  in  Colonel  Yancey's  face. 

"  Did  she  do  that?  "  he  said,  in  a  hoarse  voice, 
"Did  she  do  it?" 

"  Certainly  she  did.    Who  else?  " 

"  They  told  me  that  Mrs.  Goddard  did  it  —  Sister 
Sue  told  me." 

"  No,  it  is  considered  by  the  Christian  Scientists 
—  this  new  sect  which  you  may  have  heard  that 
Carolina  has  joined  —  that  Gladys  is  her  first  case 
of  healing.  Carolina  is  Mrs.  Goddard's  pupil,  and 
doubtless  Mrs.  Goddard  helped  her,  —  in  the  curi 
ous  way  they  have,  for  I  overheard  Carolina  tele 
phoning  Mrs.  Goddard  to  treat  her  —  Carolina  — 
for  fear,  in  your  little  daughter's  case.  I  believe 
they  heal  by  confidence  in  God's  promises  and  the 
theory  that  mind  controls  matter.  Wonderful, 
isn't  it?" 

"  Wonderful,  indeed,  but  the  most  wonderful 
part  of  it  to  me  is  that  Miss  Carolina  was  induced 
to  render  me  this  inestimable  benefit  when  she  — 
well,  she  used  to  hate  me,  to  be  quite  frank.  If  you 
knew  the  rebuffs  I  have  taken  at  her  hands !  " 

"  Well,  that  is  one  of  the  results  of  this  new 
religion  of  hers.  It  is  founded  on  love,  and  they 
are  obliged  to  live  it,  or  they  fail  to  receive  any 
benefits.  It  is  a  self-acting  religion,  and  is  its  own 
detective.  They  regard  hatred,  for  example,  as  a 


160  CAROLINA  LEE 

disease,  and  naturally  Carolina  could  not,  in  their 
code,  be  healed  herself  or  heal  others  as  long  as  she 
hated  you.  Thus,  in  healing  your  little  girl,  she 
was  working  out  her  own  salvation." 

"  Mr.  Howard,"  said  Colonel  Yancey,  with  his 
face  working  painfully,  "  you  don't  know  what  it 
is  to  have  a  crippled  child.  You  don't  know  the 
agony  I  have  endured,  looking  at  her  beautifully 
formed  little  body  and  into  her  dear  face,  with  its 
intelligent  eyes,  broad  brow,  and  sweet  mouth,  and 
then  realizing  that  all  her  life  she  must  be  helpless, 
unable  to  walk  or  even  to  stand,  a  burden  to  herself 
and  others.  Her  feet,  as  perhaps  you  know,  were 
perfect  in  shape  and  form.  They  were  simply 
turned  inward.  I  have  gone  through  Gethsemane 
itself  wondering  when  her  tender  little  heart  would 
learn  its  first  taste  of  bitterness  against  the  parents 
who  brought  her  into  the  world  to  suffer  so.  And 
then  to  have  all  this  load  of  grief  lifted,  to  see  my 
baby  walk  about  and  play  with  her  little  sister,  and 
frolic  as  other  children  do,  and  suddenly  to  learn 
that  I  owe  it  to  the  woman  who  is  my  all  in  life 
—  I  assure  you,  sir,  it  is  almost  more  than  my  heart 
can  bear.  Take  Guildford  on  your  own  terms,  sir ! 
It  is  a  small  return !  " 

Mr.  Howard  held  out  his  hand,  and  Colonel 
Yancey  grasped  it. 

"  The  human  heart  is  a  curious  thing,  Mr.  How- 


CAROLINA  LEE  161 

ard.  I  was  as  determined  five  minutes  ago  as  ever 
a  man  was  on  earth  to  let  you  plead  until  you  lost 
your  breath,  yet  I  would  never  part  with  my  hold 
on  Miss  Carolina  through  owning  Guildford.  Now, 
in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  I  am  ready  to  let  you 
have  it.  I  can't  give  it  to  you  quickly  enough. 
What  price  are  you  willing  to  pay?" 

"  Suppose  we  say  the  face  of  the  mortgage,  — 
just  what  it  cost  you  ?  " 

"  Ten  thousand  dollars  less,  if  you  say  so,  Mr. 
Howard." 

"  No,  I  prefer  to  let  you  show  your  gratitude  to 
her  in  some  other  way.  I  will  pay  what  you  paid." 

"  Good !  I  will  have  the  deed  made  out  to-day. 
But  lose  no  time  in  telling  her  that  Guildford  is 
hers.  She  has  won  it  for  herself." 

"  If  I  tell  her  that,  do  you  know  what  she  will 
say?"  asked  Mr.  Howard. 

"No,  what?" 

"  She  will  give  all  the  credit  to  her  new  thought. 
She  told  me  before  I  started  that  I  would  be  suc 
cessful.  As  she  puts  it,  '  Nothing  is  ever  lost  in 
Truth.'  " 

"  Then  she  considers,  even  though  Guildford  has 
been  in  my  power  for  several  years,  that  it  was 
never  really  lost  to  her  ?  " 

"  In  her  new  conception  of  the  truth,  that  is  the 
way  she  argues." 


1 62  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  By  Jove,  Mr.  Howard,  I'm  going  to  join  them ! 
I  wonder  if  she  would  let  me  go  to  church  with  her 
next  Sunday  ?  " 

"  I'm  sure  she  would." 

But,  as  he  turned  away,  Mr.  Howard  shook  his 
head  and  said  to  himself :  "  Carolina  will  have  to 
tell  him  what  she  told  Noel,  —  of  the  futility  of 
attempting  to  be  a  Scientist  for  the  sake  of  the 
loaves  and  fishes." 

But,  indeed,  Carolina  had  not  only  believed  it, 
but,  with  her  Bible  and  "  Science  and  Health  "  on 
her  knees,  during  the  hour  of  the  interview  she  had 
made  her  demonstration,  so  that  she  knew  it  with 
out  words.  She  felt  it  by  the  uplift  in  her  own 
heart  and  the  nearness  of  her  own  soul  to  the  In 
finite,  so  that,  when  Mr.  Howard  appeared  with  a 
beaming  face  to  tell  her,  the  radiance  on  Carolina's 
admonished  him  that  she  knew  already. 

"  But  you  don't  know  all,  young  lady !  After  I 
had  left  his  office,  the  colonel  came  post-haste  after 
me  to  say  that  his  sister  and  the  children  are  to  leave 
to-morrow  for  Whitehall,  his  brother-in-law's  es 
tate,  which  lies  some  twelve  miles  from  Guildford, 
but  northeast  from  Enterprise,  the  little  station 
where  you  leave  the  railroad,  and  Miss  Yancey 
is  going  to  call  on  you  and  Mrs.  Winchester  this 
evening,  to  invite  you  to  make  Whitehall  your  head 
quarters  until  you  can  establish  yourself  elsewhere." 


CAROLINA  LEE  163 

"  Oh,  how  kind  of  them !  "   said  Carolina. 

"Then  y-you  will  accept?"  demanded  Kate,  in 
old-thought  surprise. 

"Why,  what  could  possibly  be  better?"  asked 
Carolina,  in  new-thought  simplicity  and  gratitude. 

"  T-ten  to  one  on  Colonel  Yancey !  "  murmured 
Kate  in  her  father's  ear  as  they  turned  away. 

"W-was  it  a  d-difficult  job,  d-daddy?"  she 
asked,  tucking  her  arm  into  his. 

"  Kate,  child,  it  was  an  absolute  triumph  for 
Carolina's  new  religion.  I  deserve  no  credit.  The 
man  set  his  jaws  and  looked  as  hard  as  nails,  until 
I  mentioned  that  Carolina  had  healed  his  baby. 
He  had  been  carefully  led  —  probably  by  Carolina's 
instructions  —  to  believe  that  Mrs.  Goddard  did 
it  —  " 

"  Y-yes,  Miss  Yancey  believes  it,  too." 

"  Well,  they  forgot  to  coach  me,  so  I  told  him 
it  was  Carolina.  My  dear,  voila  tout! " 

"  C-Christian  Science  p-plays  ball  every  time,. 
doesn't  it?"  observed  Kate,  thoughtfully. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

WHITEHALL 

"  WELL,"  said  Mrs.  Winchester,  looking  out  of 
the  car-window  as  the  train  approached  Enterprise, 
"if  any  man  had  told  me  that  two  years  from  the 
day  we  left  Bombay  I  should  find  myself  going 
back  to  Guildford  to  live,  I  should  have  said  he  was 
a  thousand  dollars  from  the  truth.  What  are  you 
laughing  at,  Carolina  ?  " 

"  And  if  any  man  had  told  me  that  I  could  ever 
have  brought  myself  to  accept  an  invitation  from 
Miss  Sue  Yancey  to  visit  them  at  Whitehall  until 
we  could  establish  ourselves  comfortably,  when  I 
used  to  dislike  her  brother  so  much,  I  should  have 
said  the  same,"  said  Carolina,  "  but  love  works 
many  miracles  in  the  human  heart." 

Mrs.  Winchester  looked  sharply  at  the  young 
girl,  but  Carolina's  expression  was  so  innocent 
Cousin  Lois  decided  that  she  was  not  referring  to 
Colonel  Yancey.  Then,  with  one  of  her  rare  ca 
resses,  which  Mrs.  Winchester  prized  above  gold, 
Carolina  laid  her  hand  on  Mrs.  Winchester's  arm 
and  said : 

104 


CAROLINA  LEE  165 

"  And,  dear  Cousin  Lois,  no  mother  could  have 
been  sweeter  and  more  unselfish  about  the  loss  of 
her  money  than  you  have  been,  or  more  self-sac 
rificing  to  come  down  here  with  me." 

"Nonsense,  my  dear!"  said  Mrs.  Winchester, 
colouring  like  a  girl  of  eighteen.  Her  blush  was 
still  beautiful  and  was  her  only  comfort,  except  her 
waist-line.  "  You  know  that  I  love  to  be  where 
you  are.  In  fact,  Carolina,  if  you  knew  how  I 
suffered,  actually  suffered,  child,  last  winter  in  Bos 
ton,  when  I  was  separated  from  you,  you  would 
believe  me  when  I  say  that  I  cannot  live  with 
out  you.  I  must  be  with  you.  You  are  all  I  have 
in  the  world,  —  and  the  money,  —  what  is  money 
good  for  except  to  buy  things  with?  Haven't  I 
everything  I  want?" 

Carolina  listened  with  a  beating  heart. 

"  Yet,  you  are  even  going  to  have  the  money 
back !  "  she  said,  with  another  pressure  of  Cousin 
Lois's  hand. 

"  Yes,  I  really  believe  I  am.  That  new  religion 
of  yours  seems  to  be  a  sort  of  magic  carpet,  to  take 
you  anywhere  you  want  to  go  and  to  get  you  every 
thing  you  want  to  have." 

"  It  brings  perfect  harmony  into  your  life,"  said 
Carolina. 

"  Well,  harmony  is  heaven !  "  said  Mrs.  Winches 
ter,  emphatically. 


1 66  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  Oh,  what  bliss  to  be  coming-  home !  "  breathed 
Carolina,  fervently.  "  I  wonder  if  any  shipwrecked 
sailor  or  prodigal  son  or  homesick  child  ever  yearned 
as  cruelly  for  his  father's  house  as  I  yearn  for  my 
first  sight  of  Guildford !  " 

Mrs.  Winchester  turned,  a  little  frightened  at  the 
passion  in  the  girl's  tone.  She  felt  that  Carolina 
was  unconsciously  preparing  herself  for  a  bitter 
disappointment. 

"  How  dear  those  little  darkies  are !  "  she  cried. 
"  But,  oh,  did  you  see  what  that  woman  did  ?  She 
knocked  that  little  boy  sprawling !  She  knocked  that 
child  down!  Did  you  ever  hear  of  such  cruelty? 
Do  you  suppose  she  could  possibly  have  been  his 
own  mother,  Cousin  Lois  ?  " 

"  Sit  down,  Carolina,  and  don't  get  so  excited. 
Of  course  she  was  his  mother.  That's  the  way 
coloured  women  do.  It  saves  talking,  —  which 
seems  to  do  no  good.  I've  seen  old  Aunt  'Polyte, 
in  your  father's  time  at  Guildford,  come  creeping 
around  the  corner  of  her  cabin  to  see  if  her  children 
were  obeying  her,  and,  if  she  found  that  they  were 
not,  I've  seen  her  knock  all  ten  of  them  down,  — 
some  fully  six  feet  away.  And  such  yells ! " 

"  Did  grandfather  allow  it  ?  "  demanded  Caro 
lina,  with  blazing  eyes. 

"  I  can  fairly  see  him  now,  sitting  his  horse 
Splendour,  draw  rein  and  shake  with  silent  laughter, 


CAROLINA  LEE  167 

till  he  had  to  take  his  pipe  out  of  his  mouth.  It 
was  too  common  a  sight  to  make  a  fnss  about.  Be 
sides,  they  needed  it.  Of  all  the  mischievous,  obsti 
nate,  thick-headed  little  donkeys  you  ever  saw, 
commend  me  to  a  raft  of  Wack  children,  —  Aunt 
'Polyte's  in  particular.  Coloured  women  are  nearly 
alwa  ;s  inhuman  on  the  surface  to  their  own  chil 
dren." 

"Wasn't  Aunt  Tolyte  my  father's  black  mammy? 
Wasn't  she  kind  to  the  white  children  ia  her 
charge?  " 

"  Ah,  that  was  a  different  matter.  Kind?  'Boiyte 
would  have  let  all  her  own  children  die  to  save  your 
father  one  ache.  I  remember  \vhen  her  children 
got  the  measles,  she  locked  them  all  in  the  cabin, 
and  sent  her  sister  to  feed  them  at  night,  while 
she  stayed  in  the  big  house  and  faept  her  white  chil 
dren  from  contagion.  Fortunately,  none  of  her  own 
died,  but,  if  they  had,  it  wouldn't  have  changed  her 
idea  of  her  duty." 

"  What  was  there  queer  about  Atmt  'Poryte?  I 
remember  that  daddy  told  me  once,  but  I  have  ior- 
gotten." 

"  She  had  one  blue  eye  and  one  black  one,  and  aot 
one  of  her  children  inherited  her  pecnKarity  ewept 
her  youngest  child,  —  a  boy,  —  bora  when  die  -was 
what  would  be  called  an  old  woman.  I  know  she 
thought  it  was  a  bad  omen  to  have  a  child  after 


1 68  CAROLINA  LEE 

she  was  fifty,  and,  when  she  saw  his  blue  eye,  she 
said  he  was  marked  for  bad  luck." 

"  Oh,  how  dreadful !  "  cried  Carolina.  "  Cousin 
Lois,  you  know  enough  about  Christian  Science  to 
know  that  she  made  a  law  for  that  child  which  may 
have  ruined  him  for  life." 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  she  did.  But,  Carolina,  dear, 
don't  get  your  hopes  of  the  South  up  too  high.  I 
am  afraid  it  won't  come  up  to  your  expectations." 

Carolina  smiled,  sighed,  and  shook  her  head. 

"  I  can't  modify  my  anticipations,  Cousin  Lois. 
Don't  try  to  help  me.  If  I  am  to  be  disillusioned, 
let  it  come  with  an  awful  bump.  Nothing  short 
of  being  knocked  down  with  a  broadside  like  that 
little  negro  boy  can  do  my  case  any  good.  I'm 
hopeless." 

"  I  believe  you  are.  Well,  we  shall  see.  We 
must  be  nearly  there.  The  last  time  the  train 
stopped,  —  was  it  to  shoo  a  cow  off  the  track  or 
to  repair  the  telegraph  wires  ?  —  the  conductor  said 
we  were  only  five  hours  late.  But  that  was  six 
hours  ago.  I  wonder  what  we  are  stopping  at  this 
little  shed  for?  Oh,  hurry,  Carolina!  He  is  call 
ing  Enterprise  and  beckoning  to  us." 

"  No  hurry,  ma'am,"  said  the  conductor.  "  The 
train  will  wait  until  you  all  get  off  in  comfort,  or 
I'll  shoot  the  engineer  with  my  own  hand !  " 

Carolina  stepped  from  the  train  to  the  platform 


CAROLINA  LEE  169 

and  looked  around.  Then  she  bit  her  lip  until  it 
bled.  Cousin  Lois  was  counting  the  hand-luggage 
and  purposely  refrained  from  looking  at  her. 

There  was  a  platform  baking  in  the  torrid  heat 
of  a  September  afternoon.  From  a  shed  at  one 
end  came  the  clicking  of  a  telegraph  instrument. 
That,  then,  must  be  the  station.  Six  or  eight  negro 
boys  and  men,  who  had  been  asleep  in  the  shade  of 
a  dusty  palmetto,  roused  up  at  the  arrival  of  the 
train  and  came  lazily  forward  to  see  what  was  going 
on.  There  were  some  dogs  who  did  not  take  even 
that  amount  of  trouble.  A  wide  street  with  six 
inches  of  dust  led  straight  away  from  the  station 
platform.  There  was  a  blacksmith  shop  on  one 
side  and  a  row  of  huts  on  the  other.  Farther  along, 
Carolina  could  see  the  word  "  Hotel  "  in  front  of 
a  one-story  cottage.  The  town  fairly  quivered  with 
the  heat. 

"  Was  you-all  expectin'  any  one  to  meet  you  ?  " 
inquired  the  conductor. 

"  Why,  yes,"  answered  Mrs.  Winchester.  "  Miss 
Yancey  said  she  would  send  for  us." 

"Miss  Yancey?  Miss  Sue  or  Miss  Sallie  Yan 
cey?  Fat  lady  with  snappin'  brown  eyes?  " 

"  Yes,  that  describes  her." 

"  The  one  that's  just  been  to  New  York  with  the 
colonel's  children?" 

"  Yes." 


I yo  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  Oh,  well,  that's  Miss  Sue.  She'll  send  all  right, 
but  likely's  not  you've  got  to  wait  awn  her.  She's 
so  fat  she  can't  move  fast.  Have  you  ever  heard 
how  the  colonel's  little  girl  was  kyored  ?  She  went 
to  one  of  these  here  spiritualists  and  was  kyored  in 
a  trance,  they  tell  me." 

"Ah,  is  that  what  they  say?"  said  Mrs.  Win 
chester,  in  a  tone  of  deep  vexation.  She  felt  in 
sulted  to  think  of  so  dignified  a  belief  as  Christian 
Science  being  confounded  with  such  a  thing  as 
spiritualism.  But  she  realized  the  absurdity  of 
entering  into  a  defence  of  a  new  religion  with  the 
conductor  of  a  waiting  train.  She  had,  however, 
forgotten  what  Southern  railroads  are  like. 

"  Yes'm.  They  say  a  lady  done  it.  Jest  waved 
her  hands  over  the  child,  and  Gladys  hopped  up  and 
began  to  shout  and  sing  and  pray !  " 

"  My  good  man,"  said  Mrs.  Winchester,  "  do 
start  your  train  up.  You  are  seven  hours  late  as  it 
is!" 

"  What's  your  hurry,  ma'am  ?  Everybody  ex 
pects  this  train  to  be  late.  I  can't  go  till  my  wife's 
niece  comes  along.  She  wants  to  go  on  this  train, 
and  I  reckon  I  know  better  than  to  leave  her.  She's 
got  a  tongue  sharper'n  Miss  Sue  Yancey's." 

Mrs.  Winchester  turned  her  majestic  bulk  on  the 
conductor,  intending  to  annihilate  him  with  a 
glance,  but  he  shifted  his  quid  of  tobacco  to  the 


CAROLINA  LEE  17^ 

other  cheek,  spat  neatly  at  a  passing  dog1,  lifted 
one  foot  to  a  resting-place  on  Carolina's  steamer- 
trunk,  and  continued,  pleasantly: 

"  Now,  that  there  dust  comin'  up  the  road  means 
business  for  these  parts.  I'd  be  willin'  to  bet  a 
pretty  that  that  is  either  Moultrie  La  Grange  or 
Miss  Sue  Yancey.  But  whoever  it  is,  they  are 
sho  in  a  hurry." 

Carolina  stood  looking  at  the  cloud  of  dust  also. 
Most  of  the  passengers  on  the  waiting  train,  with 
their  heads  out  of  the  car-windows,  were  doing  the 
same.  It  seemed  to  be  the  only  energetic  and  dis 
turbing  element  in  an  otherwise  peaceful  landscape, 
and  only  one  or  two  passengers,  who  were  obviously 
from  the  North  and  therefore  impatient  by  inherit 
ance,  objected  in  the  least  to  this  enforced  period1 
of  rest. 

"  And  from  here,  I'd  as  soon  say  it  was  Moultrie 
as  Miss  Sue.  They  both  kick  up  a  heap  of  dust  in 
one  way  or  another,  on'y  Moultrie,  he  don't  raise 
no  dust  talking.  If  it  is  Moultrie,  he'll  be  mighty 
sore  at  bein'  away  when  the  train  come  in,  on'y  I 
reckon  he  didn't  look  for  her  so  soon.  We  was 
thirteen  hours  late  yestiddy." 

How  much  longer  the  train  would  have  waited, 
no  one  with  safety  can  say,  had  not  the  cloud  of 
dust  resolved  itself  into  a  two-seated  vehicle,  in 
which  sat  two  ladies,  both  clad  in  gray  linen  dusters, 


CAROLINA  LEE 


which  completely  concealed  their  identity.  One  of 
the  dusters  proved  to  be  the  conductor's  niece,  who 
took  the  time  to  be  introduced  to  Mrs.  Winchester 
and  Carolina  by  the  other  duster,  which  turned  out 
to  be  Miss  Sue  Yancey.  When  the  conductor's 
niece  had  fully  examined  every  item  of  Carolina's 
costume  with  a  frank  gaze  of  inventory,  she  stepped 
into  the  station  to  claim  her  luggage,  and  then, 
after  bidding  everybody  good-bye  all  over  again, 
she  got  into  the  train,  put  her  head  out  of  the  win 
dow,  called  out  messages  to  be  given  to  each  of 
her  family,  and,  after  a  few  moments  more  of 
monotonous  bell-ringing  by  the  engineer,  in  order 
to  give  everybody  plenty  of  notice  that  the  train 
was  going  to  start,  it  creaked  forward  and  bumped 
along  on  its  deliberate  journey  farther  south. 

Carolina  took  an  agonized  notice  of  all  this.  If 
it  had  been  anywhere  else  in  the  world,  she  could 
have  been  amused;  she  would  have  listened  in  de 
light  to  the  garrulous  conductor,  and  would  have 
laughed  at  the  crawling  train.  But  here  at  Enter 
prise,  —  that  dear  town  which  was  nearest  to  the 
old  estate  of  Guildford,  —  why,  it  was  like  being 
asked  to  laugh  at  the  drunken  antics  of  a  man  whom 
you  recognized  as  your  own  brother! 

She  listened  to  Miss  Yancey's  apologies  for  being 
late  with  a  stiff  smile  on  her  lips.  She  must  have 
answered  direct  questions,  if  any  were  asked,  be- 


CAROLINA  LEE  173 

cause  no  breaks  in  the  conversation  occurred  and  no 
one  looked  questioningly  at  her,  but  she  had  no 
recollection  of  anything  except  the  jolting  of  the 
springless  carriage  and  the  clouds  of  dust  which 
rolled  in  suffocating  clouds  from  beneath  the  horses' 
shuffling  feet. 

They  drove  about  four  miles,  and  then  turned  in 
at  what  was  once  a  gate.  It  was  now  two  rotting 
pillars.  The  road  was  rough  and  overgrown  on 
each  side  with  underbrush.  The  house  before  which 
they  stopped  had  been  a  fine  old  colonial  mansion. 
Now  the  stone  steps  were  so  broken  that  Miss 
Yancey  politely  warned  her  guests  with  a  gay: 

"  And  do  don't  break  your  neck  on  those  old 
stones,  Mrs.  Winchester.  You  see,  we  of  the  old 
South  live  in  a  continuous  state  of  decay.  But 
we  don't  mind  it  now.  We  have  gotten  used  to 
it.  If  you  will  believe  me,  it  didn't  even  make  me 
jealous  to  see  the  prosperity  of  those  Yankees  up 
North.  I  kept  saying  to  myself  all  the  time,  '  But 
we  have  got  the  blood ! ' 

As  they  entered  the  massive  hall,  cool  and  dim, 
the  first  thing  which  struck  the  eye  was  a  large 
family  tree,  framed  in  black  walnut,  hanging  on  one 
side  of  the  wall,  while  on  the  other  was  a  highly 
coloured  coat  of  arms  of  the  Yanceys,  also  framed 
and  under  glass. 


174  CAROLINA  LEE 

Miss  Yancey  took  off  her  duster  and  hung  it  on 
the  hat-rack. 

"  Now,  welcome  to  Whitehall !  Will  you  come 
into  the  parlour  and  rest  awhile,  or  would  you  like 
to  go  to  your  rooms  and  lie  down  before  supper? 
I  want  you  to  feel  perfectly  at  home,  and  do  just 
as  you  please." 

"  I  think  we  will  go  to  our  rooms,  please,"  said 
Mrs.  Winchester,  with  one  glance  into  Carolina's 
pale,  tired  face. 

"  Here,  you  Jake !  Carry  those  satchels  to  Mrs. 
Winchester's  room,  and,  Lily,  take  these  things  and 
go  help  the  ladies.  And  mind  you  let  me  know 
if  they  want  anything." 

A  few  moments  afterward,  Lily,  the  negro  maid, 
came  hurrying  down-stairs,  her  eyes  rolling. 

"  Laws,  Miss  Sue !  Dey  wants  a  bath !  Dey 
axed  me  where  wuz  de  bathroom,  en  I  sez,  *  Ev'ry 
room  is  a  bathroom  while  y'all  is  takin'  a  bath  in 
it.'  En  Miss  Sue,  Miss  Calline,  she  busted  right  out 
laffin'." 

"  They  want  a  bath?  "  cried  Miss  Sue.  "  Well, 
go  tell  Angeline  to  heat  some  water  quick,  and  you 
fill  this  pitcher  and  take  it  up  to  them.  But  mind 
that  you  wash  it  out  first,  —  if  you  don't,  you'll 
hear  from  me,  —  and  don't  be  all  day  about  it. 
Now,  see  if  you  can  hurry,  Lily." 

When  the  sun  went  down,  the  oppressive  quality 


CAROLINA  LEE  175 

in  the  heat  seemed  to  disappear,  and  when  Cousin 
Lois  and  Carolina  came  down  in  their  cool,  thin- 
dresses,  they  found  themselves  in  the  midst  of  the 
most  delightful  part  of  a  Southern  summer  day. 

Miss  Sue  was  nowhere  to  be  seen,  but  another 
lady,  as  thin  as  she  was  fat,  came  out  of  the  dimness- 
and  introduced  herself. 

"  I  am  Mrs.  Elliott  Pringle,  ladies,  though  you< 
will  nearly  always  hear  me  called  Miss  Sallie  Yan- 
cey.  Sister  Sue  is  out  in  the  garden.  Shall  we" 
join  her?  I  know  she  wants  you  to  see  her  roses.'r 

Carolina's  spirits  began  to  rise.  She  felt  ashamed 
of  her  hasty  disillusionment.  Where  was  her  cour 
age  that  she  should  be  depressed  by  clouds  of  dust 
and  the  lack  of  a  bathroom? 

In  the  early  evening,  with  the  shadows  lengthen 
ing  on  the  grass  and  the  pitiless  sun  departed,  the' 
ruin  everywhere  apparent  seemed  only  picturesque, 
while  the  warm,  sweet  odours  from  the  garden,  were- 
such  as  no  Northern  garden  yields. 

There  were  narrow  paths  bordered  with  dusty 
dwarf-box,  with  queer-shaped  flower-beds  bearing 
four-o'clocks,  touch-me-nots,  phlox,  azaleas,  and 
sweet-william.  Then  there  were  beds  upon  beds 
of  a  flower  no  Northerner  ever  sees,  —  the  old- 
fashioned  pink,  before  gardeners,  wiser  than  their 
Maker,  attempted  to  graft  it.  In  its  heavy,  double 
beauty  it  always  bursts  its  calyx  and  falls  of  its; 


176  CAROLINA  LEE 

own  weight  of  fragrance,  to  lie  prostrate  on  the 
ground,  dying  of  its  own  heavy  sweetness.  Against 
a  crumbling  wall  were  tea-roses.  In  another  spot 
grew  a  great  pink  cabbage  rose,  as  flat  as  a  plate 
when  in  full  bloom,  with  its  inner  leaves  still  so 
tightly  crinkled  that  its  golden  heart  was  never 
revealed  except  by  a  child's  curious  investigating 
fingers.  And  curiously  twisting  in  and  out  of  the 
branches  of  this  rose-tree  was  a  honeysuckle  vine. 
Over  one  end  of  the  porch  climbed  a  purple  clematis. 
Over  the  other  a  Cherokee  rose.  But  the  great  glory 
of  the  garden  was  over  against  the  southern  wall, 
where  roses  of  every  sort  bloomed  in  riotous  pro 
fusion.  Evidently  they  bloomed  of  their  own  sweet 
will,  and  with  little  care,  for  the  garden  was  almost 
as  neglected  as  the  rest  of  the  place. 

Still  it  was  the  first  thing  which  brought  back 
to  Carolina  "  a  memory  of  something  "  she  "  never 
had  seen,"  as  she  told  Cousin  Lois  when  she  went 
in,  and  she  made  an  excuse  to  go  out  alone  after 
supper  was  over  and  the  three  ladies  were  com 
fortably  seated  in  rocking-chairs  on  the  front  porch. 

"  Don't  sit  in  that  chair,  Mrs.  Winchester,"  Caro 
lina  heard  Miss  Sallie's  voice  say,  as  she  ran  down 
the  steps  into  the  garden.  "  That  chair  has  no  seat 
to  it,  and  the  back  is  broken  to  this  one.  Sit  in 
this  chair.  I  think  it  won't  be  too  damp  here  to 
wait  for  Moultrie." 


CAROLINA  LEE  177 

The  girl  could  smile  now,  for  the  witchery  of 
the  evening  was  on  the  garden,  and  its  perfume 
enthralled  her  senses.  She  walked  until  she  got 
beyond  the  sound  of  voices  on  the  front  porch,  and, 
at  the  head  of  a  set  of  shallow  terraces,  set  like 
grassy  steps  to  lead  down  to  the  brook  which  bab 
bled  through  the  lower  meadow,  she  sat  down  to 
let  her  mind  take  in  the  sudden  change  in  her  life. 

She  rested  her  chin  on  her  hands  and  was  quite 
unaware  that,  in  her  thin  blue  dress,  with  frills  of 
yellow  lace  falling  away  from  the  arms  above  the 
elbows,  and  with  her  neck  rising  from  the  trans 
parent  stuff  like  an  iris  on  its  slender  stem,  she  made 
anything  of  a  picture,  until  she  became  aware  that 
some  one  was  standing  quite  still  on  a  lower  terrace 
and  looking  at  her  with  so  fixed  an  expression  that 
she  turned  until  her  eyes  met  his.  Most  girls  would 
have  started  with  surprise,  but  to  Carolina  it  was 
no  surprise  at  all  to  find  the  stranger  of  the  Met 
ropolitan  Opera  and  the  stranger  who  had  borrowed 
her  brother's  dog-cart,  a  part  of  the  enchanted  gar 
den,  and  to  feel  in  her  own  heart  that  he  was  no 
stranger  to  her,  nor  ever  had  been,  nor  ever  could  be. 

They  looked  at  each  other  for  a  few  moments, 
the  man  and  the  woman,  and  the  sound  of  the  brook 
came  faintly  to  their  ears.  But  the  scent  of  the 
garden  was  all  about  them  and  there  was  no  need 
of  speech. 


178  CAROLINA  LEE 

Slowly  Carolina  smiled,  and  he  reached  up  his 
hand  to  hers  and  took  it  and  said : 

"  You  know  me?  "  and  she  said : 

"  Yes." 

"  And  I  know  you,"  he  said,  "  for  I  have  felt 
ever  since  that  first  night  that  you  would  come." 

"That  first  night?"  she  breathed. 

"  At  the  opera,"  he  said. 

Then  he  drew  back  strangely  and  looked  around 
at  the  garden  and  frowned,  as  if  it  had  been  to 
blame  for  the  words  he  had  spoken  when  he  had  not 
meant  to  speak.  But,  although  Carolina  saw  the 
look  and  the  frown,  she  only  smiled  and  breathed 
a  great  sigh  of  content  and  looked  at  the  garden 
happily. 

Then  he  turned  to  her  again  and  said : 

"Did  you  know  that  you  and  I  are  related?" 
And  he  saw  with  a  great  lift  of  the  heart  that  she 
turned  pale  before  answering,  so  to  spare  her  he 
went  on,  hurriedly: 

"  I  have  been  talking  to  Mrs.  Winchester,  and 
we  find  that  the  La  Granges  and  Lees  are  kin.  You 
and  I  are  about  twelfth  cousins,  according  to  Miss 
Sallie  Yancey." 

"  So  we  are  of  the  same  blood,"  said  Carolina, 
gently.  Then  she  added  :  "  I  am  glad." 

"  And  so  am  I,  —  more  glad  than  I  can  say,  for 
it  will  give  me  the  opportunity  to  be  of  service  to 


CAROLINA  LEE  179 

you  —  in,  a  way  I  could  not  —  perhaps  —  if  we 
were  not  kin." 

Carolina  looked  at  him  inquiringly,  but  he  had 
turned  his  head  away,  and  again  a  frown  wrinkled 
his  smooth,  brown  forehead.  Carolina  looked  at 
him  eagerly.  He  was  a  man  to  fill  any  woman's 
eye,  —  tall,  lean,  lithe,  and  commanding,  with  long 
brown  fingers  which  were  closed  nervously  upon 
the  brim  of  his  soft  black  hat.  His  nose  was 
straight,  his  lips  sensitive  yet  strong,  and  his  eyes 
had  a  way  of  making  most  women  sigh  without 
ever  knowing  why.  Moultrie  La  Grange  was  said 
to  have  "  a  way  with  him  "  which  men  never  under 
stood,  but  which  women  knew,  and  knew  to  their 
sorrow,  for  everywhere  it  was  whispered  that 
"  Moultrie  would  never  marry,  since  —  "  and  here 
the  whispers  became  nods  and  half-uttered  words 
and  mysterious  signs  which  South  Carolinians  un 
derstood,  but  which  mystified  Mrs.  Winchester,  and 
Carolina  did  not  happen  to  hear  the  subject  dis 
cussed. 

"  You  have  come  down  here,"  said  Moultrie,  "  to 
restore  Guildford." 

"  Yes,"  said  Carolina,  seeing  that  he  paused  for 
a  reply. 

"  I  wish  that  I  could  restore  Sunnymede.  Our 
place  joins  yours." 


i8o  CAROLINA  LEE 

"It  does?"  cried  Carolina.  "Then  why  don't 
you?" 

He  looked  at  her  sharply.  Was  she  making  fun 
of  him? 

"  You  are  a  rich  young  lady.  I  am  a  poor  man. 
Can  I  rebuild  Sunnymede  with  these?"  He  held 
out  two  fine,  strong,  symmetrical  hands. 

Carolina  looked  at  them  appreciatively  before 
she  answered. 

"  I  am  a  poor  young  woman,  but  I  intend  to  re 
build  Guildford  with,  these!"  And  she  held  out 
beside  his  two  of  the  prettiest  hands  and  wrists  and 
arms  that  Moultrie  La  Grange  had  ever  seen  in  his 
life,  and  he  at  once  said  so.  And  Carolina,  instead 
of  being  bored,  as  was  her  wont  in  other  days,  was 
so  frankly  pleased  that  she  blushed,  and  said  to 
herself  that  the  reason  she  believed  this  man  meant 
what  he  said  was  because  she  was  poor,  and  he  could 
not  possibly  be  paying  court  to  a  wealth  that  she 
had  lost.  But  the  truth  of  the  matter  was  that  she 
believed  him  because  she  wanted  to.  It  gave  her 
an  exquisite  and  unknown  pleasure  to  have  this 
man  tell  her  over  and  over,  as  he  did,  that  her  hands 
were  the  most  beautiful  he  had  ever  seen,  and  Caro 
lina  looked  at  them  in  a  childish  wonder,  and  as 
if  she  had  never  seen  them  before.  And  it  was  not 
until  she  had  laid  them  in  her  lap  again,  and  they 


CAROLINA  LEE  181 

were  partly  hidden,  that  she  could  bring  the  con 
versation  back  to  anything  like  reason. 

"How  do  you  mean?"  he  questioned.  "You 
can't  do  a  thing  without  money.  And  I  hear  —  " 
he  stopped  in  confusion,  and  his  forehead  reddened. 

"  You  know  that  we  have  lost  ours,"  supple 
mented  Carolina.  "  Well,  you  have  heard  correctly. 
Every  dollar  of  my  fortune  is  gone !  "  Her  voice 
took  on  so  triumphant  a  ring  that  Moultrie  looked 
up  at  her  in  surprise.  He  did  not  know  that  part  of 
her  exultation  came  from  the  joy  it  gave  her  to  be 
able  to  proclaim  her  poverty  to  this  man  out  of  all 
the  world,  and  thus  put  herself  on  a  level  with  him. 

"  I  have  only,"  she  continued,  "  a  little  laid  by 
which  came  from  the  sale  of  my  jewels."  Then, 
as  she  still  saw  the  questions  in  his  eyes  which  he 
forebore  to  ask,  she  added :  "  Do  you  want  me  to 
tell  you  about  it  all  ?  " 

"  More  than  anything  in  the  world,"  he  assured 
her.  And  something  in  his  tone  shook  the  girl  so 
that  she  paused  a  little  before  she  began. 

"  Well,  I  suppose  you  know  that  when  Sherman, 
my  brother,  mortgaged  Guildford,  Colonel  Yancey 
bought  the  mortgage  and  foreclosed  it.  That  is 
how  he  got  possession  of  Guildford." 

"But  why?"  interrupted  the  man.  "What  in 
the  world  did  he  especially  want  Guildford  for, 
when  there  are  a  dozen  other  estates  he  could  have 


1 82  CAROLINA  LEE 

bought  for  less  money,  and  some  of  them  with 
houses  already  built?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Carolina,  so  hurriedly  that 
the  man  turned  his  eyes  upon  her,  and,  noticing  the 
wave  of  colour  mount  to  her  brow  under  his  gaze, 
he  looked  away  and  all  at  once  he  knew  why.  Caro 
lina  did  not  see  his  hands  clench  and  his  teeth  come 
together  with  a  snap,  as  he  thought  of  the  Colonel 
Yancey  that  men  knew. 

"  But  Mr.  Howard,  the  father  of  my  dearest 
friend,  persuaded  Colonel  Yancey  to  sell  it  to  him 
for  the  face  value  of  the  mortgage,  so  that  now  I 
have  no  fear  of  losing  it,  for  Mr.  Howard  will  give 
me  all  the  time  I  want  to  pay  for  it." 

"  But  what  are  you  going  to  pay  for  it  with  ?  " 
asked  the  young  man. 

"  Well,  if  you  will  go  with  us  when  we  look  over 
the  estate,  I  can  tell  you  better  than  I  can  now. 
Do  you  happen  to  know  anything  about  this  new 
process  of  making  turpentine  ?  " 

"  Of  course  I  do,"  said  La  Grange,  with  a  frown. 
"  I  suppose  that  your  brother  and  his  friends  have 
organized  a  company  with  Northern  capital  to  erect 
a  plant  which  will  make  everybody  rich.  That's 
what  all  Northerners  tell  us  when  they  want  us  to 
invest.  Money  is  all  Yankees  seem  to  think  about." 

"  My  brother  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
affair  at  all ! "  said  Carolina,  with  some  heat. 


CAROLINA  LEE  183 

"  Guildford  is  mine,  and  I'm  going  to  make  it  pay 
for  itself." 

Moultrie  said  nothing,  but  his  chin  quivered  with 
a  desire  to  laugh,  and  Carolina  saw  it.  Then  he 
turned  to  her. 

"  You  have  never  seen  the  home  of  your  ances 
tors?  How  are  you  going  to  have  your  first  view 
of  it  ?  From  the  Barnwells'  carryall  ?  " 

Carolina's  eyes  dilated  and  she  bit  her  lip. 

"  How  else  could  I  go  ?  "  she  said,  gently. 

"  If  you  would  allow  me,"  he  said,  eagerly,  "  we 
would  go  on  horseback,  —  just  you  and  I,  —  early, 
early  in  the  morning.  It  would  be  the  best  time. 
Will  you?" 

"  Oh,  will  you  take  me?  "  cried  Carolina.  There 
was  only  a  look  from  Moultrie  La  Grange's  eyes 
for  an  answer.  But  Carolina's  flashed  and  wavered 
and  dropped  before  it. 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  magnificent  horse  your 
grandfather  owned,  named  Splendour?"  he  asked, 
quietly. 

"  Ah,  yes,  indeed." 

"  Well,  I  own  a  direct  descendant  of  the  sire 
of.  that  very  animal.  Her  name  is  Scintilla,  and 
my  friend,  Barney  Mazyck,  owns  Scintilla's  full 
sister,  a  mare  named  Araby.  I'll  borrow  her  for 
you.  Would  you  like  that?  " 

"  Oh,  Mr.  La  Grange !  "  breathed  Carolina. 


1 84  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  Please  never  call  me  that.  Do  let  me  claim  kin 
with  you  sufficiently  to  have  you  call  me  '  Moul- 
trie.'  " 

"  And  will  you  call  me  '  Carolina  ?  '  "  she  asked, 
shyly. 

"We  never  do  that  down  here  with  young  ladies, 
unless  we  are  own  cousins.  But  I  will  call  you 
*  Miss  Carolina,'  if  I  may." 

"  Then  you  are  asking  me  to  take  more  of  a 
privilege  than  you  will,"  said  Carolina. 

"  I  want  you  to  take  every  privilege  with  me 
that  you  can  permit  yourself,"  he  said,  earnestly. 

When  Carolina  went  indoors  that  night,  the  first 
thing  she  did  was  to  take  two  candlesticks,  and, 
holding  them  at  arm's  length  above  her  head,  to 
study  her  own  face  in  the  great  pier-glass  which, 
in  its  carved  mahogany  frame,  occupied  one  corner 
of  her  large  bedchamber.  Whatever  the  picture 
was  which  she  saw  reflected  there,  it  seemed  to  give 
her  pleasure,  for  she  coloured  and  smiled  as  her 
eyes  met  those  of  the  girl  in  the  mirror. 

"  I  am  glad  he  thinks  so !  "  she  whispered  to 
herself,  as  she  turned  away. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

GUILDFORD 

CAROLINA  never  forgot  that  morning.  She  was 
up  at  four  o'clock,  and,'  by  a  previous  arrangement 
with  old  Aunt  Calla,  the  cook,  she  had  a  cup  of 
coffee  at  dawn.  Aunt  Calla  brought  it  into  the 
dining-room  herself. 

"  'Scuse  me,  honey,  fer  waiting  awn  you  myself, 
but  do  you  reckon  I  could  V  got  dat  no  'count  fool, 
Lily,  to  git  up  en  wait  awn  ennybody  at  dis  time 
in  de  mawnin'  ?  Not  ef  she  knowed  huh  soul  gwine 
be  saved  by  doin'  it.  Dese  yere  chillen  ob  mine 
is  too  fine  to  wuk  lake  dere  mammy  does." 

"  But  how  did  you  manage  to  wake  up  so  early?  " 
asked  Carolina. 

"  Lawd,  honey,  I'se  done  nussed  sick  chillen  tell 
I  sleeps  wid  one  eye  open  from  habit.  En  when  I 
see  what  a  pretty  day  it  gwine  turn  out,  en  when  I 
see  dat  en  de  fust  five  minutes  you  laid  eyes  awn 
him,  you  done  cotched  de  beau  what  half  de  young 
ladies  in  Souf  Calliny  done  set  dere  caps  for,  I 
says  to  myself,  '  Ole  'ooman,  ef  you  wants  to  see 
courtin'  as  is  courtin',  you  jes'  hump  doze  ole  rheu- 

185 


1 86  CAROLINA  LEE 

matiz  laigs  ob  yours,  en  get  dar  'fore  dey  suspicion 
it  demselves ! '  Law,  Mis'  Calline,  how  you  is  blush 
ing!  Ump!  ump!" 

"  Here,  Aunt  Calla,  take  this  for  your  trouble, 
and  go  and  see  if  Mr.  La  Grange  has  come,"  cried 
Carolina. 

"  Why,  Mis'  Calline,  dis  yere  will  buy  me  a  new 
bunnet!  Thank  you,  ma'am.  Yas'm,  dah  he  is! 
I  kin  tell  de  way  Mist'  Moultrie  rides  wid  my  eyes 
shut.  He  rides  lake  one  ob  dese  yere  centipedes !  " 

Old  Calla  made  it  a  point  to  see  the  riders  mount. 
The  sun  was  just  coming  into  view,  sending  the 
mists  rolling  upwards  in  silvery  clouds,  when  Caro 
lina  stepped  out  of  the  door.  Her  habit  was  of  a 
bluish  violet,  so  dark  that  it  was  almost  black.  It 
matched  the  colour  of  her  eyes.  Her  hair  caught 
the  tinge  of  the  sun  and  held  it  in  its  shining  meshes. 

Moultrie  La  Grange  was  waiting  for  her  at  the 
foot  of  the  steps. 

He  held  the  mare  Araby  by  the  bridle,  and  leaned 
on  the  saddle  of  his  own  mare,  Scintilla,  shielding 
his  eyes. 

"  Good  morning,  —  Moultrie." 

"  Is  that  you,  Miss  Carolina?  The  sun,  or  some 
thing  blinds  me." 

Carolina  had  heard  it  all  many  times  before. 
Why,  then,  this  difference?  She  pretended  to  her 
self  that  she  did  not  know,  but  she  did  know,  and 


CAROLINA  LEE  187 

was  happy  in  the  knowing.  He  was  so  handsome! 
She  gloried  in  his  looks.  She  felt  as  she  had  felt 
when  she  stood  before  the  Hermes  of  Praxiteles, 
and  wondered,  if  such  glorious  beauty  should  ever 
come  to  life,  how  she  could  bear  it!  , 

Moultrie  La  Grange  was  not  considered  hand 
some  by  everybody.  His  beauty  was  too  cold  — 
too  aloof  —  for  the  multitude  to  appreciate.  But 
does  the  ordinary  tourist  go  to  Olympia? 

Carolina  had  rather  dreaded  the  four  miles  to 
Enterprise,  if  their  way  should  lie  over  the  dusty 
highway  of  yesterday.  But  she  was  not  surprised ; 
in  fact,  it  seemed  in  keeping  with  what  she  had 
expected  of  him  when  he  struck  off  through  the 
woods,  and  she  found  herself,  not  only  on  the  most 
perfect  animal  she  had  ever  ridden,  but  in  an  en 
chanted  forest. 

Moultrie  led  the  way  both  in  conversation  and 
in  direction,  and  Carolina  found  herself  glad  to 
follow.  His  sarcasm,  his  wit,  and  the  poetry  of 
his  nature  were  displayed  without  affectation.  She 
kept  looking  at  him  eagerly,  gladly,  and  yet  expec 
tantly.  What  was  she  waiting  for?  He  discussed 
men  but  not  deeds;  amusements  but  not  occupa 
tion  ;  designs  but  not  achievements.  She  wondered 
what  he  did  with  his  time.  He  was  strong,  mag 
netic,  gentle,  charming.  His  voice  was  melodious. 
His  manner  full  of  the  fineness  of  the  old  South. 


1 88  CAROLINA  LEE 

Yet  there  was  a  vague  lack  in  him  somewhere.  He 
just  failed  to  come  up  to  her  ideal  of  what  a  man 
should  be.  Wherein  lay  this  intangible  lack? 

Suddenly  they  emerged  from  the  woods  and 
struck  the  highway,  and  in  another  moment  they 
were  in  Enterprise. 

Not  a  breath  of  life  was  anywhere  visible.  Al 
though  it  was  six  o'clock,  not  a  wreath  of  smoke 
curled  upward  from  any  chimney.  They  rode 
through  the  sleeping  town  in  silence. 

"  Now  here,"  said  Moultrie,  "  is  a  very  remark 
able  town.  It  is,  I  may  say,  the  only  town  in  the 
world  which  is  completely  finished.  Most  towns 
grow,  but  not  a  nail  has  been  driven  in  Enterprise, 
to  my  knowledge,  since  I  was  born.  This  town  is 
perfectly  satisfactory  to  its  inhabitants  just  as  it  is!  " 

Against  her  will  Carolina  laughed.  His  tone  was 
irresistible. 

"  Ought  you  to  make  fun  of  your  own  —  your 
home  town  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  My  more  than  that !  Enterprise  yields  me  my 
bread  —  sometimes." 

Carolina  looked  at  him.  He  pointed  with  his 
whip  at  the  shed  on  the  railroad  platform. 

"  I  am  telegraph  operator  there  six  months  in 
the  year.  I  teach  a  country  school  in  winter." 

If  he  had  struck  her  in  the  face  with  that  same 
riding-whip,  the  red  would  not  have  flamed  into 


CAROLINA  LEE  189 

Carolina's  cheeks  with  more  sudden  fury.  She 
dug  her  spurless  heel  into  Araby's  side,  and  the 
mare  jumped  with  a  swerve  which  would  have  un 
seated  most  riders.  Moultrie  looked  at  her  in  swift 
admiration,  but  she  would  not  look  at  him.  She 
struck  her  horse,  and,  with  a  mighty  stride,  Araby 
got  the  lead  and  kept  it  for  a  mile,  even  from  Scin 
tilla.  Then  the  man  overtook  her  and  reached  out 
and  laid  a  hand  on  Carolina's  bridle  hand,  and 
looked  deep  into  her  eyes  and  said : 

"Why  did  you  do  that?  Why  did  you  try  to 
escape  from  me?  Don't  you  know  that  you  never 
can?" 

And  all  the  time  Carolina's  heart  was  beating 
heavily  against  her  side,  and  her  brain  was  spinning 
out  the  question  over  and  over,  over  and  over: 

"  Oh,  how  can  he  ?  How  can  he  be  satisfied  with 
that  ?  How  can  he  endure  himself !  " 

It  was  not  the  lack  of  money,  it  was  the  lack  of 
ambition  in  the  man  at  her  side,  which  stung  her 
pride  until  it  bled. 

"  Better  go  West  on  a  cattle  ranch,"  she  thought, 
with  bitter  passion.  "  Better  hunt  wolves  for  the 
government.  Better  take  the  trail  with  the  Indians 
than  to  lie  down  and  rot  in  such  a  manner!  And 
such  a  man!  " 

But  suddenly  a  realization  came  to  her  of  how 
marked  her  resentment  would  seem  to  him  if  he 


190  CAROLINA  LEE 

should  discover  its  cause,  and  she  hastened  to  play 
a  part.  But  he  was  in  no  danger  of  discovering1, 
because  he  did  not  even  suspect.  All  the  young 
fellows  he  knew,  no  matter  how  aristocratic  their 
names,  were  at  work  for  mere  pittances  at  employ 
ments  no  self-respecting  men  would  tolerate  for  a 
moment,  because  they  offered  no  hope  of  betterment 
or  promotion.  Men  with  the  talent  to  become  law 
yers,  artists,  bankers,  and  brokers  were  teaching 
school  for  less  than  Irish  bricklayers  get  in  large 
cities.  Therefore,  it  could  not  be  alleged  that  they 
were  incapable  of  earning  more  or  of  occupying 
more  dignified  positions.  It  was  simply  the  lack 
of  ambition  —  the  inertia  of  the  South  —  which 
they  could  not  shake  off.  It  is  the  heritage  of  the 
Southern-born. 

Presently  Moultrie  again  pointed  with  his  whip: 
"  Over  yonder  is  Sunnymede,  our  place.  Poor 
old  Sunnymede!  Mortgaged  to  its  eyes,  and  with 
all  its  turpentine  and  timber  gone!  Guildford  is 
intact.  We  just  skirt  the  edge  of  Sunnymede  riding 
to  Guildford.  And  right  where  you  see  that  tall 
blasted  pine  standing  by  itself  is  where  I  made  one 
of  my  usual  failures.  I'm  like  the  man  with  the 
ugly  mule,  who  always  backed.  He  said  if  he 
could  only  hitch  that  mule  with  his  head  to  the 
wagon,  he  could  get  there.  So,  if  my  failures  were 
only  turned  wrong  side  out,  I'd  be  wealthy." 


CAROLINA  LEE  191 

Carolina  tried  to  smile.  Moultrie  continued: 
"  Once  I  thought  I'd  try  to  make  some  money, 
so  I  sold  some  timber  to  a  Yankee  firm  who  wanted 
fine  cypress,  and  with  the  money  I  constructed  a 
terrapin  crawl.  I  knew  how  expensive  terrapin  are, 
and,  if  there  is  one  thing  I  do  know  about,  it  is 
terrapin.  So  I  canned  a  few  prize-winners,  and 
sent  them  to  New  York,  and  got  word  that  they 
would  take  all  I  could  send.  Well,  with  that  I 
began  to  feel  like  a  Jay  Gould.  I  could  just  see 
myself  drinking  champagne  and  going  to  the  opera 
every  night.  So  I  immediately  raised  some  mo' 
money  in  the  same  way,  —  out  of  the  Yankees,  — 
organized  a  small  company,  and  built  a  canning 
factory.  The  lumber  company  was  interested  with 
me  and  advanced  me  all  the  money  I  wanted.  So 
I  got  the  thing  well  started,  and  left  special  word 
with  the  foreman,  a  cracker  named  Sharpe,  to  be 
sure  and  not  can  the  claws,  then  I  went  off  to  New 
York  to  enjoy  myself.  I  stayed  until  all  my  money 
was  gone  and  then  came  home,  intending  to  enjoy 
the  wealth  my  foreman  had  built  up  in  my  absence. 
But  what  do  you  reckon  that  fool  had  done  ?  Why, 
he  had  turned  the  work  over  to  the  niggers,  and 
they  had  canned  the  terrapin  just  so,  —  claws,  eye 
brows,  and  all!  Well,  of  course,  the  New  York 
people  went  back  on  me,  —  wrote  me  the  most  im 
pudent  letters  I  ever  got  from  anybody.  It  just 


192  CAROLINA  LEE 

showed  me  that  Yankees  can  never  hope  to  be  con 
sidered  gentlemen.  Why,  they  acted  as  if  I  had 
cheated  them !  Said  they  had  advertised  largely  on 
my  samples,  and  had  lost  money  and  credit  by  my 
dishonest  trickery.  Just  as  if  /  were  to  blame! 
Then,  of  course,  the  Yankee  lumbermen  got  mad, 
too,  and  foreclosed  the  mortgage  and  liquidated  the 
company,  and  left  me  as  poor  as  when  I  went  in. 
I  believe  they  even  declare  that  I  owe  them 
money.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  such  a  piece  of 
impudence?  " 

"  Never,"  said  Carolina,  coolly,  "  if  you  mean 
on  your  part !  You  did  everything  that  was  wrong 
and  nothing  that  was  right.  And  the  worst  of  it 
is  that  you  are  morally  blind  to  your  share  of  the 
blame." 

"  Why,  Miss  Carolina,  what  do  you  mean  ?  I 
didn't  go  to  lose  their  money.  It  hit  me  just  as 
hard  as  it  did  them.  I  didn't  make  a  cent." 

"  But  the  money  that  'you  lost  wasn't  yours  to 
lose,"  cried  Carolina,  hotly. 

"  No,  but  I  didn't  do  wrong  intentionally.  You 
can't  blame  a  man  for  a  mistake." 

"  There  is  such  a  thing  as  criminal  negligence," 
said  the  girl,  deliberately.  "  You  had  no  business 
to  trust  an  affair  where  your  honour  was  pledged 
to  an  incompetent  cracker  foreman,  and  go  to  New 
York  on  the  company's  money,  even  if  you  did  think 


CAROLINA  LEE  193 

you  would  earn  the  money  to  pay  it  back.  How 
do  you  ever  expect  to  pay  it  ?  " 

"  I  don't  expect  to  pay  it  at  all,  and  I  reckon 
those  Yankees  don't  expect  it,  either." 

"  No,  I  don't  suppose  they  do,"  said  Carolina, 
bitterly. 

"  Well,  if  they  are  satisfied  to  lose  it,  and  have 
forgotten  all  about  it,  would  you  bother  to  pay  it 
back  if. you  were  in  my  place?" 

"  I  would  pay  it  back  if  I  had  to  pay  it  out  of 
my  life  insurance  and  be  buried  in  a  pine  coffin 
in  the  potter's  field !  And  as  to  those  Northerners 
having  forgotten  it,  —  don't  you  believe  it !  They 
have  simply  laid  it  to  what  they  call  the  to-be-ex 
pected  dishonesty  of  the  South  when  dealing  with 
the  North.  The  South  calls  it  '  keeping  their  eyes 
peeled,'  '  being  wide-awake,'  '  not  being  caught  nap 
ping/  or  catch  phrases  of  that  order.  But  the 
strictly  honest  business  man  calls  it  dishonest  trick 
ery,  and  mentally  considers  all  Southerners  inoc 
ulated  with  its  poison.  Do  you  know  what  South 
ern  credit  is  worth  in  the  North  ?  " 

Moultrie  only  looked  sulky,  but  Carolina  went 
on,  spurred  by  her  own  despair  and  disillusion 
ment. 

"  Well,  you  wouldn't  be  proud  of  it  if  you  did ! 
And  just  such  a  tolerant  view  of  a  thoroughly 
wrong  transaction  as  you  have  thus  divulged  is 


194  CAROLINA  LEE 

responsible.  Colonel  Yancey  was  right.  The 
South  is  heart-breaking!" 

"  Do  you  care  so  much  ?  "  asked  Moultrie,  softly. 

Carolina  lifted  herself  so  proudly  that  the  mare 
danced  under  her.  She  saw  that  she  had  gone 
too  far.  She  also  felt  that  error  had  mocked  her. 
She  had  despaired  of  Moultrie's  blind  and  false 
point  of  view  when  the  Light  of  the  world  was 
at  hand.  Immediately  her  thought  flew  upwards. 

But  with  Carolina  absorbed  in  her  work,  and 
Moultrie  puzzling  over  the  sudden  changes  in  her 
behaviour,  it  could  not  be  said  that  the  remainder 
of  the  ride  was  proving  as  pleasant  as  each  had 
hoped.  However,  a  perfect  day,  a  fine  animal,  and 
the  spirits  of  youth  and  enthusiasm  are  not  to  be 
ignored  for  long,  and  presently  Carolina  began  to 
feel  Guildford  in  the  air.  She  looked  inquiringly 
at  Moultrie,  and  he  answered  briefly : 

"  In  another  mile."  But  there  was  a  look  in 
his  eyes  which  made  Carolina's  heart  beat,  for  it 
was  the  glance  of  comprehension  which  one  soul 
flings  to  another  in  passing,  —  sometimes  never  to 
meet  again,  sometimes  which  leads  to  mating. 

In  another  five  minutes  Moultrie  raised  his  arm. 

"There!" 

Carolina  reined  in  and  Araby  stood,  tossing  her 
slim  head,  raising  her  hoofs,  champing  her  bit,  and 
snuffing  at  the  breeze  which  came  to  her  red  nostrils, 


CAROLINA  LEE  195 

laden  with  the  breath  of  piny  woods  and  balsam. 
Moultrie,  sitting  at  parade  rest  on  Scintilla  and 
watching  Carolina  catch  her  breath  almost  with  a 
sob,  said  to  himself :  "  She  feels  just  as  that  horse 
acts." 

Carolina  could  find  no  words,  nor  did  she  dare 
trust  herself.  She  was  afraid  she  would  break 
down.  She  lifted  her  gauntleted  hand  and  the 
horses  drew  together  and  moved  forward. 

For  more  than  a  mile  an  avenue  as  wide  as  a 
boulevard  led  in  a  straight  line,  lined  on  each  side 
by  giant  live-oaks.  Ragged,  unkempt  shrubbery, 
the  neglect  of  a  lifetime,  destroyed  the  perfectness 
of  the  avenue,  but  the  majesty  of  those  monarchs 
of  trees  could  not  be  marred.  The  sun  was  only 
about  an  hour  high,  and  the  rays  came  slantingly 
across  meadows  whose  very  grasses  spoke  of  fer 
tility  and  richness.  The  glint  of  the  river  occa 
sionally  flashed  across  their  vision,  and  between 
the  bird-notes,  in  the  absolute  stillness,  came  the 
whispering  of  the  distant  tide. 

At  the  end  of  the  avenue  lay  the  ruined  stones 
of  Guildford. 

Carolina  sprang  down,  flung  her  bridle-rein  to 
Moultrie,  and  ran  forward.  She  would  not  let  him 
see  her  eyes.  But  she  stumbled  once,  and  by  that 
he  knew  that  she  was  crying.  They  were,  however, 
tears  of  joy  and  thanksgiving.  Guildford!  Her 


196  CAROLINA  LEE 

foot  was  on  its  precious  turf.  These  stones  had 
once  been  her  father's  home.  And  she  was  free, 
young,  strong,  and  empowered  to  build  it  up,  a 
monument  to  the  memory  of  her  ancestors.  Every 
word  which  Mrs.  Goddard  had  prophesied  had 
come  true,  and  Carolina's  first  thought  was  a  repe 
tition  of  her  words : 

"  See  what  Divine  Love  hath  wrought !  " 

When  she  came  back,  instead  of  a  tear-stained 
face,  Moultrie  saw  one  of  such  radiance  that  her 
beauty  seemed  dazzling.  Where  could  be  found 
such  tints  of  colouring,  such  luminous  depths  in 
eyes,  such  tendrils  of  curling  hair,  such  a  flash  of 
teeth,  such  vivid  lips,  and  such  a  speaking  smile? 
As  he  bent  to  receive  her  foot  in  his  hand,  he  trem 
bled  through  all  his  frame,  and,  as  he  felt  her  light 
spring  to  her  mare's  back,  he  would  not  have  been 
at  all  surprised  to  discover  that  she  had  simply 
floated  upward  and  vanished  from  his  earthly  sight 
to  join  her  winged  kindred.  But,  as  she  gathered 
up  her  reins  and  watched  him  mount,  it  was  a  very 
businesslike  angel  who  spoke  to  him,  and  one  whose 
brain,  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  was  full  of  tur 
pentine. 

"  Now,  let's  explore,"  she  said.  "  I  have  paid 
my  respects  to  the  shrine  of  my  forefathers,  now 
let's  see  what  I  have  to  sell  my  turpentine  farmers." 

"Your  what?"  asked  the  man,  with  the  amused 


CAROLINA  LEE  197 

smile  a  man  saves  for  the  pretty  woman  who  talks 
business. 

"  I  am  going  to  sell  the  orchard  turpentine  rights 
of  Guildford  to  get  money  for  building,"  she  said, 
in  a  matter-of-fact  tone. 

"  And  I  was  thinking  of  you1  in  a  white  robe 
playing  a  harp !  "  he  said,  with  a  groan. 

"  I  often  wear  a  white  robe,  and  I  play  a  harp 
quite  commendably,  considering  that  I  have  studied 
it  since  I  was  nine  years  old,  but  when  I  am  work 
ing,  I  don't  wear  my  wings.  They  get  in  my  way." 

Carolina  by  instinct  rode  to  an  elevation  which 
commanded  a  view  of  the  pine  forests  of  Guildford. 

"  How  much  do  I  own?  "  she  asked. 

"  As  far  as  you  can  see  in  that  direction.  Over 
here  your  property  runs  into  ours  just  where  you 
see  that  broad  gap." 

"  Why  don't  you  rebuild  Sunnymede  ?  " 

"  No  money!  "  he  said,  with  a  shrug. 

"  You  have  plenty  of  fallen  timber  and  acres  of 
stumpage  to  sell  to  the  patent  turpentine  people." 

"  I  don't  know.  I  have  never  heard  it  discussed. 
We  wouldn't  sell  to  Yankees.  We  feel  that  we 
wouldn't  have  come  to  grief  with  the  terrapin  affair 
if  we  had  been  dealing  with  Southerners." 

"  Who  are  there  to  discuss  ?  Who  owns  it  with 
you?"  asked  Carolina,  calmly  ignoring  the  absurd 
ity  of  his  remarks. 


198  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  My  brother  and  sister —  "  He  paused  abruptly, 
and  then  said :  "  You  are  sure  to  hear  it  from  others, 
so  I  will  tell  you  myself.  The  La  Grange  family 
skeleton  shall  be  shown  to  you  by  no  less  a  hand 
than  my  own !  My  brother  has  made  a  very  —  I 
hardly  know  what  to  call  it.  It  is  an  unfortunate 
marriage,  since  no  one  knows  who  the  girl  is. 
When  you  saw  me  in  New  York,  I  was  hoping  to 
prevent  their  marriage,  but  it  was  too  late.  They 
had  eloped  and  had  been  married  immediately  on 
arriving  in  New  York.  As  soon  as  her  aunt,  with 
whom  she  lived,  learned  that  Flower  had  eloped 
with  my  brother,  she  sent  for  me.  She  had  been 
a  great  invalid,  and  the  excitement  had  upset  her 
so  that  when  I  arrived  she  looked  as  if  she  had 
not  an  hour  to  live.  She  caught  me  by  the  arm 
and  said :  '  Flower  must  not  marry  a  La  Grange. 
She  is  not  my  niece  nor  any  relative  of  mine.  Her 
mother  was  — '  and  with  that  her  speech  failed. 
She  struggled  as  I  never  saw  a  being  struggle  to 
speak  the  one  word  more,  —  the  one  word  needful, 
—  and,  failing,  she  fell  back  against  her  pillow  — 
dead!" 

Carolina's  face  showed  her  horror.  He  felt 
soothed  by  her  understanding  and  went  on,  in  a  low, 
pained  voice. 

"  It  ruined  my  life.  And  it  has  ruined  Win- 
field's." 


CAROLINA  LEE  199 

"  And  the  girl,"  said  Carolina,  in  a  tense  voice, 
"Flower!" 

"  It  has  ruined  hers.  They  are  the  most  unhappy 
couple  I  ever  saw.  And  more  so  since  the  baby 
came." 

"  It  will  all  come  right,"  declared  Carolina, 
straightening  herself.  "  You  will  discover  that 
Flower  is  entitled  to  a  name,  and  that  your  worst 
fears  are  incorrect." 

"  My  worst  fears  —  "  began  Moultrie.  Then  he 
stopped  abruptly.  "  I  cannot  explain  them  to  you," 
he  said. 

"  I  know  what  you  mean.  But  remember  that 
I,  too,  have  seen  Flower.  I  saw  her  that  day,  and 
I  say  to  you  that  not  one  drop  of  negro  blood  flows 
in  that  girl's  veins,  and  your  brother's  child  is 
safe." 

"  You  think  so  ?  "  he  exclaimed,  moved  by  the 
earnestness  of  her  voice  and  the  calm  conviction 
of  her  manner.  Then  he  shook  his  head. 

"  It  seems  too  good  to  be  true." 

"  I  can  understand,"  she  said,  "  the  terrible 
strain  you  are  all  under,  but,  believe  me,  it  will  all 
come  out  right." 

11  They  think  the  baby  is  bewitched,  —  that  he 
has  been  voodooed,  —  if  you  know  what  that  means. 
The  negroes  declare  that  an  evil  spirit  can  be  seen 
moving  around  whatever  spot  the  child  inhabits." 


200  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  What  utter  nonsense !  "  cried  Carolina.  "  I 
hope  your  brother  has  too  much  sense,  too  much 
religion,  to  encourage  such  a  belief." 

"  My  poor  brother  believes  that  the  devil  has 
marked  him  for  his  own." 

"  Does  your  brother  believe  in  a  devil  ?  "  asked 
Carolina. 

"  Why,  don't  you?  "  asked  Moultrie,  in  a  shocked 
tone. 

"  I  was  not  aware  that  any  enlightened  person 
did  nowadays,"  answered  Carolina,  with  a  lift  of 
her  chin. 

The  movement  irritated  her  companion  far  more 
than  her  words,  just  as  Carolina  had  intended  it  to. 

There  are  some  subjects  which  cannot  be  argued. 
They  must  be  obliterated  by  a  contempt  which  bites 
into  one's  self-love. 

The  mare  saved  the  situation  by  a  soft  whinny. 
She  turned  her  head  expectantly,  and,  following  her 
eyes,  the  riders  saw  the  tall,  lithe  figure  of  a  man 
making  his  way  toward  them  through  the  under 
brush.  Moultrie  gave  vent  to  an  exclamation. 

"  What  is  it?  "  asked  Carolina. 

"  Oh,  only  a  bad  negro  who  haunts  places  where 
he  has  no  business  to.  He  is  a  perfect  wonder  with 
horses,  and  broke  in  that  mare  you  are  riding,  who 
will  follow  him  anywhere  without  a  bridle,  pushing 
her  nose  under  his  arm  like  any  dog  who  thrusts 


CAROLINA  LEE  201 

a  muzzle  into  your  palm.  He  is  always  up  to  some 
thing.  From  present  appearances,  I  should  say 
that  he  had  probably  been  bleeding  your  trees." 

The  negro,  hearing  voices,  stopped,  glanced  in 
their  direction,  and  promptly  disappeared.  Carolina 
only  had  time  to  notice  that  he  was  very  black,  but 
she  followed  him  in  thought,  mentally  denying  dis 
honesty  and  declaring  that  harm  could  not  come 
to  her  through  error  in  any  form. 

She  was  struck,  too,  by  the  manner  in  which 
her  sensitive,  high-bred  mare  lifted  her  pretty  head 
and  looked  after  his  retreating  form,  pawing  the 
earth  impatiently  and  sending  out  little  snuffling 
neighs  which  were  hardly  more  than  bleatings. 
Surely,  if  a  man  had  the  power  to  call  forth  devoted 
love  from  such  an  animal,  there  must  be  much  good 
in  him ! 

"What  makes  you  so  quiet?"  asked  Moultrie, 
breaking  in  on  her  thought. 

Carolina  looked  at  him  abruptly  and  decided  her 
course  of  action. 

"  You  have  told  me  of  the  skeleton  in  your  closet. 
Let  me  be  equally  frank  and  tell  you  of  mine.  I 
am  a  Christian  Scientist." 

"A  what?" 

"  A  Christian  Scientist !  " 

"  I  never  heard  of  one,"  said  the  young  man, 
simply.  "What  is  it?" 


202  CAROLINA  LEE 

For  the  second  time  the  girl's  face  flushed  with 
a  vicarious  mortification. 

"  It  is  a  new  form  of  religion  founded  on  a  per 
fect  belief  in  the  life  of  Christ  and  a  literal  follow 
ing  of  His  commandments  to  His  disciples,  regard 
less  of  time,"  said  Carolina,  slowly. 

Moultrie  allowed  a  deep  silence  to  follow  her 
words.  Then  he  drew  a  long  breath. 

"I  think  I  should  like  that,"  he  said.  "Does 
it  answer  all  your  questions?  " 

"  All !  Every  one  of  them !  "  she  answered,  with 
the  almost  too  eager  manner  of  the  young  believer 
in  Christian  Science.  But  an  eagerness  to  impart 
good  news  and  to  relieve  apparent  distress  should 
be  readily  forgiven  by  a  self-loving  humanity. 
Curiously,  however,  the  most  blatant  ego  is  gen 
erally  affronted  by  it. 

"  I  was  raised  a  Baptist,"  he  said,  reluctantly, 
"  but  I  reckon  I  never  was  a  very  good  one,  for 
I  never  got  any  peace  from  it." 

"  My  religion  gives  peace." 

"  And  my  prayers  were  never  answered." 

"  My  religion  answers  prayers." 

"  Not  even  when  I  lifted  my  heart  to  God  in 
earnest  pleading  to  spare  my  brother  the  unhappi- 
ness  I  felt  sure  would  follow  his  marriage.  How 
I  prayed  to  be  in  time  to  prevent  it!  God  never 
heard  me ! " 


CAROLINA  LEE  203 

"  My  religion  holds  the  answer  to  that  unan 
swered  prayer." 

"  Not  even  when  I  prayed,  lying  on  the  floor 
all  night,  for  the  life  of  my  father." 

"  My  religion  heals  the  sick." 

He  turned  to  her  eagerly. 

"  Do  you  believe  so  implicitly  in  Christ's  teach 
ings  that  you  can  reproduce  His  miracles  ? "  he 
cried. 

"  Christ  never  performed  any  miracles.  He 
healed  sickness  through  the  simplest  belief  in  the 
world,  —  or  rather  an  understanding  of  His  Fath 
er's  power.  That  same  privilege  of  understanding 
is  open  to  me  —  and  to  you.  You  have  the  power 
within  you  at  this  very  moment  to  heal  any  disease, 
if  you  only  know  where  to  look  for  the  understand 
ing  to  show  you  how  to  use  it." 

"Do  you  believe  that?" 

"  I  do  better  than  believe  it.  I  understand  it.  I 
know  it." 

"  Is  there  a  book  which  will  tell  me  how  to  find 
it?" 

"  Yes." 

"  Will  you  order  it  for  me,  or  tell  me  where  to 
order  it?" 

"  It  is  a  very  expensive  book,"  said  Carolina, 
hesitatingly,  thinking  of  the  telegraph-office. 

"  How  expensive  ?  " 


204  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  Three  dollars." 

"  Do  you  call  that  expensive  for  what  you  promise 
it  will  do?" 

When  Carolina  looked  at  him,  he  saw  that  she 
was  smiling,  but  there  were  tears  in  her  eyes.  And 
he  understood. 

"  You  only  said  that  to  try  me." 

And  she  nodded.  Her  heart  was  too  full  of  min 
gled  emotions  for  her  to  speak.  She  had  loved, 
despised,  been  proud  of,  and  mortified  for  this  man, 
—  all  with  poignant,  pungent  vehemence,  —  during 
this  three-hour  ride,  and  at  the  las*t  he  had  humbled 
and  rebuked  her  by  his  childlike  readiness  to  believe 
the  greatest  truth  of  the  ages.  She  sat  her  horse, 
biting  her  lips  to  keep  back  the  tears. 

"  Give  me  just  one  fact  to  go  on,"  he  begged. 

"  Do  you  read  your  Bible  ?  " 

"  I  used  to,  till  I  found  I  was  getting  not  to  be 
lieve  in  it.  Then  I  stopped  for  my  dead  father's 
sake.  He  believed  in  it  implicitly." 

"  Then  you  have  read  the  fourteenth  chapter  of 
John?" 

"  I  got  fifty  cents  when  I  was  twelve  years  old 
for  learning  it  by  heart." 

"  Then  run  it  over  in  your  own  mind  until  you 
come  to  the  twelfth  verse.  When  you  get  to  that, 
say  it  aloud." 

" '  Verily,  verily  I   say  unto  you,   He  that  be- 


CAROLINA  LEE  205 

lieveth  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also ; 
and  greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do ;  because  I 
go  unto  my  Father.'  ' 

He  did  not  glance  her  way  again,  which  Caro 
lina  noticed  with  gratitude.  It  showed  that  he  was 
not  accepting  it  for  her  sake.  Presently  he  spoke 
again. 

"  Did  you  yourself  ever  heal  any  one?  " 

"  Through  my  understanding  of  Divine  Love,  I 
healed  Gladys  Yancey,"  she  said,  quietly. 

The  man's  face  flushed  with  his  earnestness.  He 
lifted  his  hat  and  rode  bareheaded. 

"  Do  you  remember  what  the  father  of  the  dumb 
child  said?  'Lord,  I  believe!  Help  thou  mine 
unbelief!'" 

When  they  rode  in  at  the  gates  of  Whitehall, 
Moultrie  was  astonished  at  the  radiance  of  the  girl's 
countenance.  She  seemed  transfigured  by  love. 
Moultrie's  ready  belief  had  glorified  her,  and  for 
the  second  time  her  grateful  thought  ascended  in 
the  words,  "  See  what  Divine  Love  hath  wrought!  " 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

KINFOLK 

CAROLINA  took  her  writing  materials  out  on  the 
back  porch.  There  was  not  a  small  table  in  the 
house  whose  legs  did  not  wabble,  so  she  propped  the 
best  of  them  with  chips  from  Aunt  Calla's  wood 
pile  and  wrote  until  Aunt  Calla  could  stand  it  no 
longer. 

"  Miss  Calline,  honey,"  she  said,  "  you  writes  so 
fas'  wid  yo'  fingahs,  would  you  min'  ef  I  brung  de 
aigplant  out  here  to  peel  it  en  watch  you?  I  won't 
make  no  fuss." 

"  Certainly  not,  Aunt  Calla.  I'd  be  glad  to  have 
you." 

"  Hum !  hum !  You  sho  have  got  pretty  man- 
nahs,  Miss  Calline.  Youse  got  de  mannahs  ob  de  ole 
ladies  of  de  South.  You  don't  see  'em  now'days 
wid  de  young  ladies.  De  young  people  got  de 
po'est  mannahs  I  ebber  did  see,  —  screechin'  and 
hollerin'  to  each  odder  'cross  de  street,  or  from 
one  eend  ob  de  house  to  de  other.  Ole  mahster 
would  'a'  lammed  his  chillen  ef  dey'd  cut  up  sech 
capers  en  his  time !  But  Miss  Peachie,  —  she's  got 

206 


CAROLINA  LEE  207 

de  La  Grange  mannahs.  She's  Mist'  Moultrie's  sis- 
tah.  Dey  calls  her  '  Peachie '  caze  she's  got  such 
pretty  red  in  huh  cheeks,  —  lake  yores.  Most 
ladies  down  in  dese  pahts  is  too  white  to  suit  me. 
I  lakes  'em  pinky  and  pretty." 

"  Thank  you,  Aunt  Calla !  "  cried  Carolina.  "  I 
wonder  if  I  couldn't  get  Cousin  Lois  to  give  you 
that  black  grenadine  you  thought  was  so  pretty 
yesterday." 

Aunt  Calla  laid  down  her  knife. 

"Miss  Calline,  is  you  foolin'  me?" 

"  No,  Calla,  I  am  not." 

"  Dish  yere  grenadier  dress  I  mean  is  lined  wid 
black  silk!" 

"  I  know  it." 

"  En  you  gwine  gib  dat  to  me?  " 

"  I  am  thinking  of  it." 

"  Well,  glory  be !  Ef  you  does  dat,  Ise  gwine 
jine  de  chutch  all  over  ag'in,  en  I  reckon  I'll  jine 
de  Babtis'  dish  yere  time.  Dey's  mo'  style  to  de 
Babtis'  den  to  de  Meth'diss.  Ise  'bleeged  to  live 
up  to  dat  silk  linin' !  " 

The  old  woman's  face  took  on  a  worried  look. 

"  I  don'  keer !  "  she  said  aloud.  "  I  don'  keer ! 
Nemmine,  Miss  Calline!  You  wouldn'  laff  so  ef 
you  knew  what  Ise  studyin'  'bout  doin'.  Ise  been 
savin'  my  money  foh  two  years  now  to  get  a  grave 
stone  foh  my  fou'th  husban'  what  done  died  three 


208  CAROLINA  LEE 

yeahs  ago.  He  baiged  me  wid  his  las'  breath  to 
bury  him  stylish,  en  I  promus  him  I  would.  He 
was  all  for  style.  Do  you  know,  Miss  Calline,  dat 
man  would  'a'  gone  hongry  rathah  dan  turn  his 
meat  ovah  awn  de  fiah.  He  was  de  mos'  dudish  man 
I  ebber  see.  But  I  can't  he'p  it.  Ise  gwine  take 
dat  grave-stone  money  and  hab  dat  dress  made  to 
fit  me  good  en  stylish.  En  I  bet  Miss  Peachie  will 
charge  me  eve'y  cent  I  got  to  do  it !  " 

"Who?"  demanded  Carolina. 

"  Miss  Peachie  La  Grange.  She  does  all  my 
sewin'  foh  me,  an'  foh:  Lily,  too.  Dat's  de  way 
she  mek  huh  money.  Yas,  ma'am.  Sewin'  foh 
niggahs !  " 

Aunt  Calla  paused  with  her  mouth  open,  for 
Carolina,  regardless  of  what  anybody  thought, 
sprang  up,  overturning  her  table,  spilling  her  ink 
over  Aunt  Calla's  clean  porch  floor,  and  scattering 
her  papers  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven. 

"  Ump !  So  dat's  de  way  de  win'  blows !  Well, 
ef  she  ain't  a  Lee  sho  miff.  She's  got  de  pride  of 
huh  ole  gran'dad,  en  mo',  too.  She  looked  at  me 
ez  if  she'd  lake  to  kill  me.  I  wondah  ef  I'll  evah 
git  dat  dress  now ! " 

She  sent  Lily  to  reconnoitre. 

"  Jes'  creep  up  en  see  what  she's  doin'.  De  key 
hole  in  huh  room  is  busted,  en  you  kin  see  de  whole 
room  thoo  it.  Jis'  go  en  peek.  But  ef  you  let  huh 


CAROLINA  LEE  209 

ketch  you,  she'll  know  who  sont  you,  en  she'll  be 
so  mad,  I  nevah  will  git  dat  dress.  Den  I'll  bust 
yo'  yallah  face  open  wid  de  i'nin'  boa'd !  " 

"  She  ain't  cryin'  nor  nothin' !  "  cried  Lily,  burst 
ing  into  the  kitchen  twenty  minutes  later.  "  She's 
settin'  in  huh  rockin'-cheer,  wid  a  open  book  awn 
huh  lap,  en  huh  eyes  is  shut  en  huh  lips  a-movin', 
lake  she's  studyin'." 

"  T'ank  de  Lawd !  "  observed  Calla.  "  Somehow 
er  odder,  Ise  gwine  git  hole  ob  a  fryin'  chicken  foh 
huh.  You  tell  Jake  I  wants  tuh  see  him  dis  evenin'. 
Run,  Lily!  See  who's  dat  drivin'  in  outen  de  big 
road ! " 

"  Hit's  de  La  Granges !  De  whole  kit  en  bilin'  ob 
'em.  Dey's  done  borried  de  Barnwells'  double  ca'y- 
all." 

Fortunately,  there  were  many  rocking-chairs  at 
Whitehall,  and,  although  many  of  them  were  war 
veterans,  all  were  pressed  into  service  the  day  the 
La  Granges  came  to  call.  Miss  Sue  and  Miss  Sallie 
Yancey  glanced  at  each  other  expressively  when 
they  saw  that  even  Flower,  Mrs.  Winfield  La 
Grange,  was  one  of  the  party.  It  was  the  first  time 
that  she  had  ever  been  openly  recognized  by  the 
La  Grange  family,  except  in  name,  and  no  one  knew 
that  it  was  by  Moultrie's  express  wish  that  Peachie 
had  asked  her  to  go  with  them.  Thus,  indirectly, 
Carolina  was  at  the  bottom  of  it,  after  all. 


210  CAROLINA  LEE 

Peachie  was  pretty,  but  her  delicate  prettiness 
was  scarcely  noticeable  when  Carolina  was  in  the 
room.  Aunt  Angie  La  Grange,  Cousin  filise  La 
Grange,  Cousin  Rose  Manigault,  with  her  little  girl 
Corinne,  who  had  come  to  play  with  Gladys  and 
Emmeline  Yancey,  —  all  these  insisted  on  claiming 
kin  with  Mrs.  Winchester  and  Carolina,  and,  as 
Aunt  Angie  and  Cousin  Lois  had  known  each  other 
in  their  girlhood,  and  had  spent  much  time  at  Guild- 
ford  and  Sunnymede,  it  was  easy  for  them  to  fall 
into  the  old  way  of  claiming  cousinship,  even  when 
a  slender  excuse  was  called  upon  to  serve. 

The  conversation  was  very  gay  and  kindly,  but, 
under  cover  of  its  universality,  Carolina  managed 
to  seat  herself  next  to  Flower  La  Grange,  whose 
pale  cheeks  and  frightened  eyes  proclaimed  how 
much  of  a  stranger  she  was  to  such  scenes.  When 
Carolina  called  her  "  Cousin  Flower,"  the  flush  on 
her  face  and  the  look  of  passionate  gratitude  in  her 
eyes  gave  Carolina  ample  evidence  that  any  kindness 
she  might  choose  to  bestow  here  would  be  appre 
ciated  beyond  reason. 

At  first  Flower  was  constrained  and  answered  in 
monosyllables,  but  when  Carolina  adroitly  men 
tioned  the  baby,  Flower's  whole  manner  thawed, 
and,  in  her  eagerness,  she  poured  forth  a  stream 
of  rapturous  talk  which  caused  the  others  to  look 
at  her  in  a  chilling  surprise.  But  Flower's  back 


CAROLINA  LEE  211 

was  toward  her  haughty  relatives,  and  only  Caro 
lina  caught  the  glances,  —  Carolina,  who  calmly 
ignored  them. 

"  You  must  come  to  see  my  baby !  "  cried  Flower, 
impulsively.  "  He  is  so  dear !  And  so  smart ! 
You  can't  imagine  how  hard  it  is  to  keep  him  asleep. 
He  hears  every  sound  and  wants  to  be  up  all  the 
time." 

"  I  suppose  he  notices  everything,  doesn't  he  ?  " 

"  No-o,  I  can't  say  that  he  does.  He  likes  things 
that  make  a  noise.  He  doesn't  care  much  for  looks. 
If  you  hold  a  rattle  right  up  before  his  eyes,  he 
won't  pay  any  attention  to  it.  But,  if  you  shake  it, 
he  smiles  and  coos  and  reaches  out  for  it.  Oh, 
he  is  a  regular  boy  for  noise !  " 

As  Flower  said  this  upon  a  moment  of  compara 
tive  silence,  Carolina  noticed  that  Aunt  Angie  grew 
rather  pale  and  said : 

"  I  haven't  seen  your  baby  for  several  months, 
Flower.  May  I  come  to  see  him  to-morrow  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  should  be  so  glad  if  you  would,  Mrs.  —  " 

"  Call  me  mother,  child,"  said  the  older  woman, 
looking  compassionately  at  her  daughter-in-law. 

Flower  flushed  as  delicately  as  a  wild  rose,  and 
looked  at  Carolina,  as  if  wondering  if  she  had  no 
ticed  this  sudden  access  of  cordiality.  But  to  Caro 
lina,  a  stranger,  it  seemed  perfectly  natural,  and 
she  rather  hurriedly  resumed  her  conversation  with 


212  CAROLINA  LEE 

Flower,  because  she  had  the  uneasy  consciousness 
that  Miss  Sue  and  Aunt  Angie,  on  the  other  side 
of  the  room,  were  talking  about  her.  Fragments 
of  their  conversation  floated  over  to  her  in  the 
pauses  of  her  talk  with  Flower. 

"  She  thinks  nothing  of  sending  off  ten  or  a 
dozen  telegrams  a  day  —  " 

"  —  she'll  wear  herself  out  —  " 

"  —  it  can't  last  long.  Moultrie  says  she  shows 
a  wonderful  head  for  —  " 

"  —  and  she  never  gets  tired.  I  never  saw  such 
power  of  concentration  —  " 

"  —  when  I  was  a  girl  —  " 

"  —  writes  —  writes  —  writes  the  longest  letters, 
and  if  you  could  see  her  mail !  " 

"  —  the  very  prettiest  girl  I  ever  saw,  —  a  per 
fect  beauty,  Moultrie  thinks." 

Carolina's  little  ears  burned  so  scarlet  that  she 
got  up  and  took  Peachie  and  Flower  out  into  the 
garden,  and,  as  the  three  girls  went  down  the  steps, 
a  perfect  babel  of  voices  arose  in  the  parlour. 
Plainly  Carolina's  going  had  loosened  their  tongues. 
They  drew  their  chairs  around  Mrs.  Winchester's, 
and,  although  the  day  was  cool,  they  gave  her  the 
warmest  half-hour  she  could  remember  since  she 
left  Bombay.  They  could  understand  and  excuse 
every  feminine  vagary,  from  stealing  another 
woman's  lover  to  coaxing  a  man  to  spend  more 


CAROLINA  LEE  213 

than  he  could  afford,  or  idling  away  every  moment 
of  a  day  over  novels  or  embroidery,  but  for  a 
beauty,  a  belle,  a  toast,  a  girl  who  had  been  pre 
sented  at  three  courts  before  she  was  twenty,  to 
come  down  to  South  Carolina  and  live  on  horse 
back  or  in  a  buggy,  meeting  men  by  appointment 
and  understanding  long  columns  of  figures,  sending 
and  receiving  cipher  telegrams,  and  in  all  this  aided 
and  abetted  by  no  less  exclusive  and  particular  a 
chaperon  than  Cousin  Lois  Winchester,  Rhett  Win 
chester's  widow,  herself  related  to  the  Lees,  —  this 
was  a  little  more  than  they  could  comprehend.  Nor 
could  Miss  Sue  Yancey  nor  Miss  Sallie  (Mrs. 
Pringle),  although  they  were  in  the  same  house 
with  her,  throw  any  light  on  the  subject  or  help 
them  in  any  way.  Carolina  was  plainly  a  puzzle 
to  the  La  Granges,  at  least,  and  when,  that  same 
afternoon,  Carolina  and  the  two  girls  in  the  garden 
saw  another  carryall  and  a  buggy  drive  in  at  White 
hall,  containing  her  father's  relatives,  the  Lees,  she 
frankly  said  that  she  would  stay  out  a  little  longer 
and  give  them  a  chance  to  talk  her  over  before 
she  went  in  to  meet  them. 

Peachie  laughed  at  Carolina's  high  colour  when 
she  said  this. 

"  You  mustn't  get  mad,  Cousin  Carol,  because 
you  are  talked  about.  We  talk  about  everybody,  — 
it's  all  we  have  to  do  in  the  country.  But  you 


214  CAROLINA  LEE 

ought  to  be  used  to  it.  You  are  such  a  little  beauty, 
you  must  have  been  talked  about  all  your  life." 

"  Nonsense,  Peachie !  "  cried  Carolina,  blushing. 
"  I  am  not  half  as  good-looking  as  you  and  Flower. 
But  the  way  you  all  watch  me  here  makes  me  feel 
as  if  I  were  a  strange  kind  of  a  beetle  under  a 
powerful  microscope,  at  the  other  end  of  which 
there  was  always  a  curious  human  eye." 

"  Oh,  Cousin  Carol,  you  do  say  such  quayah 
things !  "  cried  Peachie,  laughing. 

"  We  ought  to  go  in,  I  think,"  said  Carolina. 
But  at  her  words  the  two  girls,  as  if  nerving  them 
selves  for  an  ordeal  planned  beforehand,  looked 
at  each  other,  and  then  Peachie,  in  evident  embar 
rassment,  said: 

"  Cousin  Carol,  I  want  to  ask  you  something, 
and  I  don't  want  you  to  be  offended  or  to  think 
that  we  have  no  manners,  but  —  " 

"  Go  on,  Peachie,  dear.  Ask  anything  you  like. 
You  won't  offend  me.  Remember  that  we  are  all 
cousins  down  here." 

"  I  know,  you  dear!  But  maybe  when  you  know 
what  I  want,  —  but  you  see,  we  never  get  a  chance 
to  see  any  of  the  styles  —  " 

"  Do  you  want  to  see  my  clothes  ?  "  cried  Caro 
lina.  "  You  shall  see  every  rag  I  possess,  you  dear 
children !  Don't  I  know  how  awful  it  must  be  never 
to  know  what  they  are  wearing  at  Church  Parade  * 


CAROLINA  LEE  215 

Five  trunks  came  yesterday  that  haven't  even  been 
unpacked.  They  are  just  as  they  were  packed  by  a 
frisky  little  Frenchman  in  Paris,  and,  as  they  were 
sent  after  me,  they  were  detained  in  the  custom 
house,  and,  before  I  could  get  them  out,  I  was  hurt. 
While  I  was  in  bed,  my  brother  got  them  out  of 
the  custom-house  and  took  them  to  his  house,  where 
I  forgot  all  about  them  until  I  was  preparing  to 
come  here.  Then  I  thought  of  clothes!  And  I 
also  thought  I  might  find  some  pretty  girls  down 
here  among  my  relatives  who  would  like  to  see  the 
Real  Thing  just  as  it  comes  from  the  hands  of  the 
Paris  couturieres,  —  so  there  you  are !  " 

"  Oh,  Carolina  Lee !  "  shrieked  Peachie,  softly. 
"  What  a  sweet  thing  you  are !  Just  think,  Flower, 
Paris  clothes !  " 

"  And  better  still,  Vienna  clothes !  "  said  Caro 
lina,  laughing. 

"  You  said  you  were  hurt,  Cousin  Carol,"  said 
Flower,  in  her  soft  little  voice.  "  How  were  you 
injured?  " 

"  I  was  thrown  from  my  horse,  Flower,  dear, 
and  my  hip  was  broken.  I  was  in  bed  for  months 
with  it." 

"  But  you  were  cured,"  said  Flower.  "  I  never 
heard  of  a  broken  hip  that  didn't  leave  a  limp. 
There  must  be  mighty  fine  doctors  in  New  York." 

"  There  are !  "  said  Carolina,  softly.     Then  she 


216  CAROLINA  LEE 

turned  suddenly  and  led  the  way  to  the  house,  the 
girls  eagerly  following. 

It  will  be  difficult  and  not  at  all  to  the  point  to 
try  to  learn  the  relationship  of  the  Lees  and  La 
Granges  to  Carolina  and  to  each  other.  Aunt  Angie 
La  Grange  was  Moultrie's,  Winfield's,  and  Peach- 
ie's  mother.  Rose  Manigault  was  Aunt  Angie's 
married  sister,  and  filise  an  unmarried  one. 

Of  the  Lees,  there  was  Aunt  Evelyn  Lee,  Caro 
lina's  own  maiden  aunt.  Aunt  Isabel  Fitzhugh,  her 
married  aunt,  with  her  two  daughters,  Eppie  and 
Marie.  Uncle  Gordon  Fitzhugh,  Aunt  Isabel's  hus 
band,  and  a  bachelor  cousin  of  Carolina's,  De  Cour- 
cey  Lee,  were  the  ones  who  had  come  in  the  buggy 
with  the  two  little  Fitzhugh  boys,  Teddy  and  Bob. 

The  children  could  not  be  induced  to  leave  the 
parlour  until  they  had  seen  their  new  cousin,  they 
had  heard  so  much  of  her  beauty  from  Moultrie, 
so  that,  when  Carolina  entered  and  was  introduced 
to  her  admiring  relatives,  none  was  more  admiring 
than  the  children.  Indeed,  Bob  Fitzhugh  announced 
to  his  father,  as  they  were  driving  home  that  eve 
ning,  that  he  was  going  to  marry  Cousin  Carol. 
He  said  that  he  had  already  asked  her,  and  that  she 
had  told  him  that  she  was  ten  years  older  than  he 
was,  but  that,  if  he  still  wanted  her  when  he  was 
twenty-one  and  she  hadn't  married  any  one  in  the 
meantime,  she  would  marry  him. 


CAROLINA  LEE  217 

"  You  couldn't  do  better,  son,"  said  his  father, 
nudging  De  Courcey,  "  and  I  commend  your 
promptness,  for,  as  Carolina  is  the  prettiest  —  the 
very  prettiest  little  woman  I  ever  saw,  the  other 
boys  will  doubtless  get  after  her,  and  it's  just  as  well 
to  have  filed  your  petition  beforehand." 

Indeed  the  verdict  on  Carolina  was  universally 
favourable.  Her  relatives  were  familiar  with  her 
photographs,  and  were  proud  of  the  accounts  which 
at  intervals  had  filtered  home  to  them  through  let 
ters  and  newspapers,  but  the  girl's  beauty  of  col 
ouring  had  so  far  outshone  their  expectations,  and 
her  exquisite  modesty  had  so  captivated  them  that 
they  annexed  her  bodily,  and  quoted  her  and  praised 
and  flattered  her  until  she>  hardly  knew  where  to 
turn.  She  won  the  Fitzhugh  hearts  by  her  devo 
tion  to  Teddy,  the  seven-year-old  boy,  who  could 
not  speak  an  intelligible  word  on  account  of  a  cleft 
palate.  She  took  him  with  her  on  the  sofa  and 
talked  to  him  and  encouraged  him  to  try  to  answer, 
until  the  mother,  though  her  soul  was  filled  with 
the  most  passionate  gratitude,  unselfishly  called  the 
boy  away,  saying,  in  a  hurried  aside  to  Carolina : 

"  Thank  you,  and  God  bless  you,  my  darling  girl, 
for  trying  to  help  my  baby  boy,  but  you  owe  your 
attention  to  the  grown  people,  who,  some  of  them, 
have  driven  twenty  miles  to  see  your  sweet  face. 
Some  day,  Carolina,  I  want  you  to  come  and  spend 


218  CAROLINA  LEE 

a  week  with  us,  and  tell  me  about  the  best  doctor  to 
send  the  child  to.  You  must  know  all  about  such 
things,  coming  from  New  York." 

She  won  the  heart  of  her  bachelor  cousin,  a  man 
of  nearly  sixty,  by  allowing  him  to  lead  her  to  a 
sofa  and  question  her  about  her  father,  his  last  days 
in  London,  and  of  how  she  had  inherited  her  love 
for  Guildford. 

"  For  it  is  an  inheritance,  Carolina,  my  dear. 
Your  father  loved  the  place  as  not  one  of  us  do 
who  have  stayed  near  it." 

"  Yes,  Cousin  De  Courcey,  I  think  you  are  right. 
Daddy  used  to  dream  of  it." 

"  Did  he  ever  tell  you  of  the  loss  of  the  family 
silver?" 

"  Yes,  he  said  it  was  lost  during  the  war." 

"  Did  he  never  tell  you  of  his  suspicions  concern 
ing  it?" 

"  No,  because  I  don't  think  he  had  any." 

"  Pardon  me  for  disagreeing  with  you,  my  dear, 
but  in  letters  to  me  he  has  stated  it.  You  know 
our  family  silver  included  many  historical  pieces,  — 
gifts  from  great  men,  who  had  been  guests  at  Guild- 
ford,  —  besides  all  that  the  family  had  inherited  on 
both  sides  for  generations.  Many  of  these  pieces 
were  engraved  and  inscribed,  and,  unless  they  were 
melted  at  once,  could  have  been  traced.  Your 
grandfather  and  your  father,  being  the  only  ones 


CAROLINA  LEE  219 

fortunate  enough  to  have  increased  their  fortunes, 
undertook  to  search  the  world  over  for  traces  of 
this  silver,  but,  as  not  so  much  as  a  teaspoon  of  it 
was  ever  found,  we  think  it  is  still  buried  some 
where  near  here,  —  possibly  on  the  estate.  Aunt 
'Polyte,  your  father's  black  mammy,  and  her  hus 
band  buried  it,  and  to  the  day  of  their  death  they 
swore  it  was  not  stolen  by  the  Yankees,  for,  when 
they  missed  it,  there  were  no  Federal  troops  within 
fifty  miles.  They  both  declared  that  some  one 
traced  them  in  their  frequent  pilgrimages  to  its 
hiding-place  to  ascertain  that  it  was  intact,  and  that 
the  Lee  family  will  yet  come  into  its  own.  As  you 
seem  to  be  our  good  angel,  it  will  probably  be  you 
who  will  find  it.  Doesn't  something  tell  you  that 
you  will  ?  " 

"  Yes,  something  tells  me  that  it  is  not  lost,"  said 
Carolina,  with  grave  eyes.  "  I  came  into  the  pos 
session  of  Guildford  so  wonderfully,  perhaps  I  shall 
find  the  Lee  silver  by  the  same  means." 

Just  then  Mrs.  Pringle  hurried  into  the  room, 
saying  hospitably : 

"  Now  listen  to  me,  good  people.  You  all  don't 
come  to  Whitehall  so  often  that  we  don't  feel  the 
honour,  and  now  that  you  are  here,  you  must  stay  to 
supper.  Don't  say  a  word!  I'll  tell  Jake  to  hitch 
up  and  go  after  Moultrie  and  Winfield,  and  there's 
a  full  moon  to-night,  so  you  won't  have  any  trouble 


220  CAROLINA  LEE 

in  getting  home.  £lise,  if  you  are  too  big  a  coward 
to  drive  twenty  miles  after  dark,  you  can  stay  here 
all  night.  Flower,  do  you  trust  your  nurse  to  stay 
with  the  baby?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  indeed,  thank  you,  Miss  Sallie.  I'll 
just  write  a  note  to  Winfield  and  send  it  by  Jake, 
if  I  may,  telling  him  to  see  that  Aunt  Tempy  and 
the  baby  are  all  right  before  he  starts,  then  I  won't 
be  a  bit  uneasy." 

The  La  Granges  had  never  heard  their  unpop 
ular  kinswoman  make  so  long  a  speech  before,  and, 
as  they  listened  to  it,  with  critical,  if  not  hostile  ears, 
they  were  forced  to  admit  that  she  exhibited  both 
spirit  and  breeding,  and  her  voice  had  a  curious  low- 
toned  dignity  which  indicated  an  inherited  power. 

Whitehall  had  not  been  famous  for  its  hospitality 
since  the  death  of  Elliott  Pringle,  Miss  Sallie's  hus 
band.  During  his  lifetime  they  had  kept  open 
house,  and  Miss  Sallie  was  the  soul  of  hospitality. 
She  would  dearly  have  loved  to  continue  his  policy 
and  the  prestige  of  Whitehall,  but  her  sister,  Sue 
Yancey,  was,  in  popular  parlance,  called  "  the  stin 
giest  old  maid  in  the  State  of  Georgia,"  and  when 
she  came  to  live  with  her  widowed  sister  she 
watched  the  expenditures  at  Whitehall,  until  no 
body  who  ever  dined  there  had  enough  to  eat. 
There  was  a  story  going  around  that  the  reason 
she  lost  the  only  beau  she  ever  had,  was  because 


CAROLINA  LEE  221 

once  when  he  was  going  on  a  journey  she  asked 
him  to  take  out  an  accident  insurance  policy,  and 
when  he  told  her  that  he  was  all  alone  in  the  world 
and  that  no  one  would  be  benefited  by  his  death, 
she  told  him  to  send  the  ticket  to  her.  Rumour 
said  that  he  sent  the  ticket,  but  that  he  never  came 
back  to  Sue. 

Sue  either  cared  nothing  for  the  good  opinion  of 
other  people  or  she  made  the  mistake  of  underesti 
mating  her  .friends'  intelligence,  for  she  carried  her 
thrift  with  a  high  hand.  At  Sunday-school  picnics 
it  was  no  uncommon  sight  for  the  neighbours  to 
see  Miss  Sue  Yancey  going  around  to  the  different 
tables  gathering  all  that  was  edible  into  her  basket 
to  take  home  with  her.  And  that  these  scraps  subse 
quently  appeared  on  the  table  at  Whitehall  often  led 
to  high  words  between  the  sisters ;  but  in  the  end  it 
always  happened  that  Sue  conquered,  because  Mrs. 
Pringle  dreaded  her  sister's  bitter  tongue  and  un- 
governed  temper. 

Yet  Sue  often  complained  that  she  felt  so  alone  in 
the  world  because  no  one  understood  her. 

"  Don't  stay,"  whispered  Gordon  Fitzhugh,  in  his 
wife's  ear.  "  Sue  never  gives  me  enough  sugar  in 
my  tea !  " 

Carolina  could  not  help  overhearing.  She  looked 
up  quickly  and  laughed. 

"  Are  you  getting  thin  ?  "  he  whispered.     "  Does 


222  CAROLINA  LEE 

Sue  give  you  as  hash  for  supper  the  beef  the  soup  is 
made  from  ?  " 

"  I  think  Miss  Sallie  is  ordering  while  we  are 
here,"  said  Carolina,  loyally.  She  would  not  tell  her 
Uncle  Fitzhugh  that  one  morning  when  Lily  was 
taking  Cousin  Lois's  breakfast  up  to  her,  when  her 
asthma  was  bad,  that  Sue  had  waylaid  Lily  in  the 
hall  and  had  taken  the  extra  butter  ball  off  the  tray 
and  carried  it  back  to  the  dining-room  in  triumph. 

"  I  admire  economy,"  said  Uncle  Fitzhugh. 
"  Sue's  ancestors  were  French,  but,  in  her  case, 
French  thrift  has  degenerated  into  American  mean 
ness." 

"  You  stay,"  said  Carolina,  dimpling,  "  and  I'll 
see  that  you  get  all  the  sugar  you  want,  if  I  have  to 
ask  for  it  myself!  " 

"  Then  I'll  stay,"  chuckled  Uncle  Fitzhugh,  and 
he  beckoned  to  De  Courcey  to  come  out  into  the 
garden  and  have  a  smoke  —  in  reality  to  gossip. 

Hardly  were  the  gentlemen  out  of  sight  when 
Peachie  said,  excitedly: 

"  Mamma,  do  beg  them  all  to  excuse  Cousin 
Carol,  Flower,  and  me!  Carol  has  promised  to 
show  us  her  Paris  clothes  —  five  trunks  full  of 
them !  "  Her  voice  rose  to  a  little  shriek  of  ecstasy, 
which  was  echoed  ;n  various  keys  all  over  the  room. 
Every  face  took  on  a  look  of  intense  excitement  and 
anticipation 


CAROLINA  LEE  223 

"  Excuse  you !  "  cried  Aunt  Angle  La  Grange. 
"  We  shall  do  no  such  thing.  If  Carol  thinks  we  old 
people  are  not  just  as  crazy  over  pretty  clothes  as 
we  were  when  we  were  girls,  she  doesn't  know  the 
temperament  of  her  own  blood  and  kin.  Carol, 
child,  lead  the  way  to  those  trunks  immediately. 
My  fingers  fairly  burn  to  turn  the  keys  in  those 
locks!" 

"Really,  Aunt  Angie?  Why,  we  shall  be  de 
lighted.  You  should  see  the  gowns  Cousin  Lois 
had  made  for  the  Durbar.  They  are  simply  regal !  " 

"  Lois  Winchester,"  said  Aunt  Angie,  as  they 
went  up-stairs,  "  they  tell  me  that  you  actually 
rode  an  elephant  while  you  were  in  India !  " 

"  I  did,  Cousin  Angie,"  said  Mrs.  Winchester, 
imperturbably.  "  And  what  is  more,  I  had  my  pic 
ture  taken  on  one.  You  can  hardly  tell  me  from  the 
elephant !  " 

Now  Cousin  Lois  so  seldom  jested  that  this  sally 
met  with  the  usual  reception  which  non-jokers  seem 
to  expect,  and  the  walls  fairly  reeled  with  the  peals 
of  laughter  from  the  delighted  kinfolk.  But  when 
they  were  all  gathered  in  Carolina's  room  and  the 
chairs  were  brought  from  all  the  other  rooms  to  seat 
the  guests,  a  hush  fell  upon  the  assemblage  similar 
to  that  which  falls  upon  Westminster  Abbey  when 
a  funeral  cortege  arrives. 

Carolina  was  unlocking  her  Paris  trunks! 


CHAPTER   XV. 

THE    BLIND   BABY 

THE  same  terrible  suspicion  which  had  entered 
Aunt  Angie  La  Grange's  mind  when  she  over 
heard  Flower's  innocent  words  had  occurred  to  Car 
olina,  and  as  there  seemed  to  be  one  of  those  sudden 
new-born  bonds  of  sympathy  between  the  beautiful 
old  woman  and  the  beautiful  young  girl,  which 
sometimes  spring  into  existence  without  warning, 
yet  with  good  reason,  as  afterwards  transpires,  Car 
olina  was  not  surprised  to  have  Aunt  Angie  draw 
her  aside  after  supper  and  say : 

"  Carolina,  child,  what  did  you  think  when  you 
heard  what  Flower  said  about  little  Arthur?" 

"  I  thought  just  what  you  thought,  Aunt  Angie, 
at  first,  then  —  " 

"Then  what?" 

"  Nothing." 

"  Now,  Carol,  you  were  going  to  say  something ! 
What  was  it?  I  am  sure  the  thought  that  I  am  a 
comparative  stranger  to  you  stopped  the  words  on 
your  lips." 

"  I  am  afraid  that  you  wouldn't  understand  what 
224 


CAROLINA  LEE  225 

I  was  going  to  say,  Aunt  Angie,  dear,  and  I  don't 
want  to  antagonize  you.  I  like  you  too  much." 

"  Dear  child,  nothing  that  your  silver  tongue 
could  utter  could  antagonize  me  after  your  sweet 
generosity  to  my  daughter  this  afternoon.  Oh, 
Carol,  don't  you  think  my  mother-heart  aches  at 
not  being  able  to  dress  my  pretty  girl  in  such  fairy 
fabrics  as  you  showed  us?  And  then  to  think  of 
your  giving  her  that  pink  silk !  Why,  Peachie  won't 
sleep  a  wink  for  a  week,  and  I  doubt  if  her  mother 
does,  either !  Now  she  can  go  to  the  Valentine  Ger 
man  in  Savannah.  You  must  go,  too.  I  will  ar 
range  it.  I  —  but  my  tongue  is  running  away  with 
me.  Tell  me  what  you  were  going  to  say." 

"  Well,"  said  Carolina,  hesitatingly,  "  you  have 
heard  that  I  am  a  Christian  Scientist,  haven't 
you?" 

"  Yes,  dear,  I  have,  and  I  must  say  that  I  deeply 
regret  it.  Not  that  I  know  anything  about  it, 
but  —  " 

"  That's  the  way  every  one  feels  who  doesn't 
know  about  'it,"  cried  Carolina,  earnestly;  "but 
that  is  nothing  but  prejudice  which  will  wear  away. 
Indeed,  indeed  it  will,  Aunt  Angie." 

Mrs.  La  Grange  shook  her  head. 

"  I  am  a  dyed-in-the-wool  Presbyterian,  and  I've 
fought,  bled,  and  died  for  my  religion  in  a  family 
who  believe  that  God  created  the  Church  of  Eng- 


226  CAROLINA  LEE 

land  first  and  then  turned  His  attention  to  the 
creation  of  the  earth,  so  you  can't  expect  me  to 
welcome  a  new  fad,  can  you,  my  dear?  But  I  beg 
your  pardon,  Carol.  What  were  you  going  to 
say?" 

"  It  was  only  this,"  said  Carolina,  gently.  "  That 
even  if  Flower's  baby  is  blind  to  mortal  sight,  he  is 
not  blind  in  God's  eyes.  There  he  is  perfect,  for 
God,  who  is  Incarnate  Love,  never  created  a  blind 
or  dumb  baby." 

Tears  rushed  suddenly  to  the  old  woman's  eyes. 

"  Are  you  thinking  of  poor  little  Teddy  Fitz- 
hugh  ?  "  she  whispered. 

"  Yes,  I  was." 

"  Oh,  Carolina !  If  you  could  have  seen  his 
mother's  anguish  all  these  years!  But  you  would 
have  to  be  a  mother  yourself  before  you  could  even 
apprehend  it." 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  I  would." 

"  And  now,"  said  the  older  woman,  with  that 
patient  tightening  of  the  lips  with  which  so  many 
Christian  women  prepare  themselves  to  bear  the 
heart-breaking  calamities  which  they  believe  a 
tender  Heavenly  Father  inflicts  on  those  He  loves, 
"  I  suppose  I  must  steel  my  heart  to  see  poor 
Flower  writhe  under  a  worse  agony.  Indeed,  Carol, 
God's  ways  are  hard  to  understand." 

"  Yes,  God  is  such  a  peculiar  sort  of  parent," 


CAROLINA  LEE  227 

observed  Carolina.  "  He  seems  to  do  things  with 
impunity,  which  if  an  earthly  father  did,  the  neigh 
bours  would  lynch  him." 

Aunt  Angie  La  Grange  sat  up  with  a  spring  of 
fright. 

"  Why,  Carolina  Lee !  What  sacrilege !  You 
will  certainly  be  punished  by  an  avenging  God 
for  such  blasphemy.  You  shock  me,  Carolina. 
You  really  do." 

"  Forgive  me,  Aunt  Angie.  I  only  meant  to  imply 
that  the  God  I  believe  in  is  a  God  of  such  love  that 
He  never  sends  anything  but  good  to  His  children." 

"  Then  how  do  you  get  around  that  saying, 
'Whom  the  Lord  loveth  He  chasteneth?'  " 

"  There  is  authority  for  translating  that  word 
'  chasteneth,'  '  instructeth.'  But  even  if  you  leave  it 
'  chasteneth,'  it  doesn't  mean  a  life-long  disfigure 
ment  or  crippling  of  innocent  babies.  Supposing 
Peachie  should  disobey  you,  or  even  disgrace  you, 
would  you  deliberately  infect  her  with  smallpox  to 
destroy  her  beauty  or  send  her  into  a  train  wreck  to 
lame  her  or  paralyze  for  life?  " 

Mrs.  La  Grange  only  looked  into  Carolina's  eyes 
for  reply,  but  her  hands  gripped  the  arms  of  her 
chair  until  her  nails  were  white. 

"  Yet  you  are  only  her  earthly  —  her  human  — 
her  finite  mother.  How  much  greater  capacity  has 
^e  Infinite  Heart  for  love!  " 


228  CAROLINA  LEE 

Mrs.  La  Grange  stirred  restlessly. 

"It  is  beautiful,"  she  breathed,  "but  — dis 
quieting.  It  upsets  all  my  old  beliefs." 

" '  And  good  riddance  to  bad  rubbish,'  as  we 
children  used  to  say,"  said  Carolina,  smiling.  Aunt 
Angie  smiled  in  answer,  but  a  trifle  dubiously. 

"Carolina,"  she  said,  "  Moultrie  told  me  —  but 
of  course  you  never  said  such  a  thing  and  I  told  him 
then  that  he  must  have  misunderstood  you  —  that 
Gladys  Yancey  was  cured  by  Christian  Science! 
Now,  what  did  you  say?  " 

"  I  said  just  that.  She  was  cured  by  Christian 
Science." 

"  I  don't  believe  it !  "  cried  Aunt  Angie.  "  Excuse 
me,  dear  child,  for  saying  so.  I  know  that  you  are 
truthful  and  that  you  believe  it,  but  /  don't.  I'd 
have  to  see  it  done." 

"If  you  saw  Teddy  Fitzhugh  taught  to  speak 
plainly,  would  you  believe?" 

"  My  dear,  I'd  leave  the  Presbyterian  Church  and 
join  the  Christian  Scientists  so  quickly  my  church 
letter  would  be  torn  by  the  way  I'd  snatch  it." 

Carolina  laughed  and  squeezed  Aunt  Angie' s 
hand,  who  added  with  a  smile : 

"  I  suppose  you  think  I  am  as  good  as  caught 
already,  don't  you  ?  " 

"  I  hope  you  are.  You  can't  imagine  how  much 
peace  it  brings." 


CAROLINA  LEE  229 

"  Peace !  It's  something1  I  never  have  had, 
child." 

"  Nor  I.    But  I  have  it  now." 

"  What  does  your  religion  compel  you  to  give  up  ? 
Peachie  absolutely  refuses  to  join  the  church  because 
it  won't  allow  dancing,  and  the  child  loves  to  dance 
better  than  anything  in  the  world.  They  tell  me, 
too,  that  she  dances  like  a  fairy."  Aunt  Angie  pro 
nounced  it  "  fayry." 

"  Why,  that  is  one  of  the  best  things  about 
Christian  Science.  It  requires  you  to  give  up  no 
innocent  pleasure.  It  only  cautions  one  against  in 
dulging  to  excess  in  anything.  Dancing,  card-play 
ing,  games,  —  why,  some  of  the  best  card-players  I 
know  are  Christian  Scientists,  but  they  don't  lose 
their  tempers  when  they  lose  a  game  and  they  don't 
cheat  to  win.  In  fact,  one  of  the  most  graceful 
things  I  have  ever  seen  done  was  when  two  ladies 
tied  for  the  prize  —  a  beautiful  gold  vase  —  at  a 
bridge  party  Addie  gave  just  before  she  closed  her 
house,  and  the  lady  who  'won  had  played  coolly, 
well,  and  won  by  merit.  The  other  flung  herself 
back  in  her  chair  with  an  exclamation,  showing  by 
her  suffused  face  and  clenched  hands  every  sign  of 
ill-temper.  My  sister-in-law  brought  the  prize  to 
the  winner,  who,  with  the  prettiest  grace  imaginable, 
thanked  her  and  then  presented  it,  by  Addie's  per 
mission,  to  the  vexed  lady  who  had  lost.  You 


230  CAROLINA  LEE 

should  have  seen  the  recipient's  face!  Surprise, 
humiliation,  and  cupidity  struggled  almost  audibly 
for  supremacy.  She  protested  feebly,  but  ended  by 
taking  it.  A  number  of  others  gathered  around, 
attracted  by  the  unusual  scene,  and  suddenly  the 
owner  of  the  vase  said  to  the  giver  of  it :  'I  would 
like  to  know  what  church  you  go  to.'  '  Well,  as 
none  of  you  know,  you  may  guess/  she  answered. 
They  guessed  Baptist,  Methodist,  Unitarian,  Epis 
copal,  and  finally  the  recipient  of  the  vase  said : 
'  No,  you  are  all  wrong.  I  believe  she  is  a  Chris 
tian  Scientist,  because  no  one  but  a  Christian  Scien 
tist  would  give  up  a  gold  vase ! ' 

"  I  like  that,"  said  Aunt  Angie,  promptly.  "  And 
I  think  the  churches  make  a  mistake  in  forbidding 
innocent  pleasures.  Oh,  why  don't  they  dwell  on 
the  good  instead  of  squabbling  over  the  bad  ?  " 

"  You  have  described  one  of  the  chief  differences 
between  the  Christian  Science  and  the  other 
churches,"  cried  Carolina.  "  Why,  Aunt  Angie, 
you  are  a  ready-made  Scientist !  " 

"  Am  I  ?  Well,  we  shall  see.  Now  tell  me  when 
you  can  go  to  see  Flower.  Was  Moultrie  able  to 
buy  Araby  for  you  ?  " 

"  No,  Mr.  Mazyck  refused  to  sell  her.  But  Moul 
trie  has  lent  me  Scintilla  until  he  can  find  another 
good  horse  for  me." 

"  But  you  especially  wanted  Araby,  didn't  you  ?  " 


CAROLINA  LEE  231 

"  Yes,  because  she  is  a  direct  descendant  of  the 
sire  of  my  grandfather's  favourite  saddle-horse. 
And  she  is  simply  perfect,  Aunt  Angie." 

"  I  am  afraid  Barney  Mazyck  is  hopeless.  If 
he  wants  a  thing,  he  wants  it  and  is  going-  to 
keep  it." 

"  I  know ;  but  I  have  not  despaired  of  getting 
her  yet.  Perhaps  I  am  just  as  bent  upon  getting 
her  as  Mr.  Barnwell  Mazyck  is  upon  keeping 
her." 

"  And  in  that  case  —  " 

"  Well,  I  wouldn't  put  any  money  on  Mr.  Ma 
zyck  !  "  laughed  Carolina. 

In  the  slight  pause  which  ensued,  Carolina  could 
see  that  Mrs.  La  Grange  was  ill  at  ease.  Suddenly 
she  turned  to  the  girl  and  said: 

"  My  dear,  doubtless  you  think  it  strange  that  I 
do  not  know  beyond  a  doubt  the  state  of  my  *wn 
little  grandson's  sight,  but  —  " 

"  I  know,"  said  Carolina,  gently.  "  I  have 
heard." 

"  Who  told  you?    Some  stranger?  " 

"  No,  Moultrie  told  me." 

"Ah,  then  you  have  heard  the  truth!  It  is  a 
terrible  grief  to  us,  Carolina.  Think  of  the  child! 
I  do  not  know  who  my  own  grandson  is  descended 
from!" 

"  But  you  will  know,"  said  Carolina,  earnestly. 


232  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  And  soon.  I  —  we  have  a  right  to  expect  God's 
harmony  in  our  lives." 

Mrs.  La  Grange  looked  at  her  curiously,  but  only 
said,  with  a  sigh : 

"  I  am  sure  I  hope  you  may  be  right." 

It  was  arranged  that  Carolina  was  to  meet  Mrs. 
La  Grange  at  Flower's  the  next  afternoon  at  three 
o'clock. 

"Can't  you  go  in  the  morning?"  asked  Mrs. 
La  Grange. 

"  I  have  an  appointment  with  the  architect  from 
Charleston  and  the  builders  at  Guildford  at  ten. 
We  wouldn't  get  through  in  time,  I  am  afraid,  for 
there  will  be  so  much  to  discuss." 

"  Won't  you  be  too  tired?  " 

"  I  never  get  tired.  There  is  rest  in  action  for 
me." 

Mrs.  La  Grange  shook  her  head,  but  not  in  dis 
approval. 

"  I  hope  I  am  going  to  like  it.  If  I  like  all  of 
it  as  well  as  I  do  the  sample  bits  you  have  fed  me 
with,  I  think,  as  you  say,  you  may  find  that  I  have 
been  a  Scientist  all  my  life  without  knowing  it." 

Mrs.  La  Grange  looked  into  the  girl's  pure,  beau 
tiful  face  scrutinizingly,  as  if  to  learn  her  secret  of 
happiness,  and,  as  she  did  so,  she  was  surprised  to 
see  it  suffused  by  a  blush  which  rose  in  delicate 
waves  to  her  hair.  Looking  about  in  surprise  for 


CAROLINA  LEE  233 

V 

a  cause,  Mrs.  La  Grange  saw  her  son  Moultrie 
approaching.  Could  Carolina  have  recognized  his 
step  without  seeing  him,  and  was  that  blush  for 
Moultrie  ? 

The  question  could  not  be  answered  at  once,  nor 
did  she  see  them  together  the  next  day,  for  Carolina 
was  late  in  keeping  her  appointment,  and,  by  the 
time  she  arrived,  the  awful  truth  was  known.  Mrs. 
La  Grange  had  been  so  overcome  that  Moultrie  was 
obliged  to  take  her  home. 

The  moment  Carolina  rode  up  to  the  house,  she 
knew  that  something  had  happened.  The  house, 
a  mere  cabin,  was  ominously  quiet,  and  no  one  came 
to  meet  her. 

She  dismounted  hurriedly,  fastened  Scintilla  to 
the  fence,  and  ran  up  the  steps.  No  one  answered 
her  knock.  She  pushed  open  the  door  and  entered. 

At  first  she  saw  no  one,  but  presently  she  heard 
heavy  breathing,  and,  crouching  on  the  floor,  in  the 
darkest  corner  of  the  room,  she  saw  Flower,  hold 
ing  the  still  form  of  her  baby  in  her  arms.  Her 
posture  and  the  glare  in  her  eyes  were  tigerish. 

With  a  low  cry,  Carolina  sprang  to  her  side. 

"  Oh,  Flower,  darling !  What  is  the  matter  with 
your  baby?  " 

"  You  may  take  him,"  said  Flower,  dully.  "  You 
care!  You  cared  yesterday.  I  can  tell.  She  only 
cares  because  Arthur  is  a  La  Grange.  You  will 


234  CAROLINA  LEE 

care  just  because  he  a  helpless  little  blind  baby. 
Oh!  oh!" 

"  Not  blind,  Flower !  Don't  say  it.  Don't  think 
it  Your  baby  sees." 

"  No,  Cousin  Carol.  You  are  good  and  kind, 
but  Mrs.  La  Grange  made  me  see  for  myself.  We 
took  a  candle  and  held  it  so  close  to  his  eyes  we 
nearly  burned  his  little  face  —  " 

"You?"  cried  Carolina.  "Were  you  in  the 
room  ?  " 

"  That's  what  Moultrie  said,  but  you  don't  either 
of  you  know.  When  you  have  a  child  of  your  own, 
you  will  both  understand  that  a  mother  can't  keep 
away.  She  must  know  the  worst,  and  she  must 
be  there  when  it  happens." 

"  Oh,  poor  Flower !  Poor  child !  "  cried  Carolina, 
weeping  unrestrainedly.  She  cuddled  the  baby's 
face  in  her  neck,  and  Flower  watched  her  apathet 
ically.  Flower's  face  was  suffused  from  stormy 
weeping,  but  she  had  wept  herself  out. 

"  And  you  had  to  bear  this  all  alone,  poor  lamb!  " 

"  I  wanted  to  be  alone !  I  wanted  her  to  go. 
They  meant  to  be  kind,  but  they  don't  love  me, 
and  they  don't  love  my  little  baby.  I  would  rather 
be  alone.  Who  could  I  send  for  —  the  priest? 
When  he  predicted  it?  " 

"  What  did  he  predict?  "  asked  Carolina,  quickly. 

"  He  was  very  angry  because  we  went  to  New 


CAROLINA  LEE  235 

York  to  be  married.  He  lost  fifty  dollars  by  it. 
That  is  what  he  charges  even  poor  people  like  me. 
And  because  I  married  a  heretic,  and  because  I  was 
not  married  by  a  priest,  he  cursed  me  and  my  off 
spring.  Then  — "  she  broke  off  suddenly  and 
cried :  "  Oh,  why  do  I  tell  it  all  ?  Why  do  I  trust 
even  you?  " 

"  Because  you  know  that  I  can  help  you,"  said 
Carolina,  gravely. 

"  No  one  can  help  me  —  not  even  God !  " 

"  Say  what  you  were  going  to,"  urged  Carolina. 

"  Well,  the  child  is  bewitched.  Every  time  there 
is  a  thunder-storm,  or  if  I  am  even  left  alone  with 
the  baby,  like  to-day,  when  I  let  Aunt  Tempy  have 
her  afternoon  —  there  she  is  now !  " 

With  a  shriek  of  terror  she  pointed  to  the  win 
dow,  and  Carolina  looked  just  in  time  to  see  a  dark 
face  disappear  from  view.  She  ran  to  the  door, 
but  nothing  could  be  seen.  Not  a  sound  could  be 
heard. 

"  It  is  the  voodoo !  "  whispered  Flower.  "  That 
face  always  comes.  Once  I  saw  it  in  the  room, 
bending  over  the  cradle  when  the  baby  was  asleep. 
But  I  never  can  catch  her.  Aunt  Tempy  has  seen 
her,  so  has  Winfield.  She  has  cast  an  evil  spirit 
over  my  baby." 

"  Her  face  looked  kind — it  even  looked  worried," 
thought  Carolina  to  herself,  but  she  said  nothing 


236  CAROLINA  LEE 

to  Flower.  She  only  sat  rocking  the  sleeping  baby, 
wiping  the  tears  which  rolled  down  her  cheeks  at 
the  sight  of  the  mother's  anguish. 

"  Flower,"  she  said,  suddenly,  "  did  you  ever 
see  Gladys  Yancey  before  Miss  Sue  took  her 
North?" 

"  Heaps  of  times." 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  how  she  was  cured?  " 

"  Why,  Moultrie  told  Winfield  that  it  was  a  new 
kind  of  religion  that  did  it,  and  Winfield  just  hol 
lered  and  laughed." 

"  Well,  if  I  could  prove  to  you  that  your  baby 
could  be  made  to  see,  would  you  holler  and 
laugh?" 

"  I  reckon  I  wouldn't.     I'd  kiss  your  feet." 

"  The  only  trouble,"  murmured  Carolina,  half  to 
herself,  "  is  that  you  are  a  Roman  Catholic.  We 
do  not  like  to  interfere  with  them." 

"  I  am  not  a  Roman  Catholic,"  said  Flower. 
"  The  lady  who  brought  me  up,  and  whom  I  was 
taught  to  believe  was  my  aunt,  was  a  Catholic, 
but  I  never  was  baptized.  I  believe  Father  Hen 
nessey  knows  who  I  am,  and  that,  if  he  would, 
he  could  clear  up  the  mystery  of  my  birth  and  give 
me  back  my  happiness.  But  he  never  will  until  I 
join  his  church.  He  told  me  so." 

"  Is  he  an  old  man  ?  "  asked  Carolina. 

"  Oh,  a  very  old  man.    He  must  be  over  eighty," 


CAROLINA  LEE  237 

A  slight  pause  ensued.  Then  Carolina  said: 
"  Would  you  like  to  hear  of  this  new  religion  ?  " 

"  If  it  will  give  my  baby  eyes,  Cousin  Carolina, 
how  can  you  even  stop  to  ask?" 

"  Oh,  my  dear,  it  is  only  because  we  are  taught 
to  go  cautiously,  —  to  be  sure  our  help  is  wanted 
before  we  offer." 

"  Well,  offer  it  to  me.  I  want  your  help  with 
all  my  soul !  " 

She  rose  from  her  corner  and  came  and  sat  at 
Carolina's  feet.  Something  of  Carolina's  sincerity, 
which  always  appealed  to  people,  moved  her  to  be 
lieve  that  Carolina  could  help  her.  Flower's  mind, 
too,  though  it  may  sound  like  an  anomaly,  had  been 
trained  by  her  aunt's  Catholicism  to  believe  in  signs 
and  wonders,  and  her  superstitions  had  been  care 
fully  educated.  Therefore,  when  a  more  analytical 
mind  might  have  hesitated  to  believe  that  material 
help  for  a  supposed  hopeless  affliction  could  come 
from  religion,  instead  of  from  a  knife  or  a  drug, 
which  even  the  most  skeptical  may  see  and  handle 
and  thus  believe,  Flower,  by  her  very  childishness, 
held  up  a  receptive  mind  for  the  planting  of  the 
seed  of  an  immortal  truth. 

The  gravity  of  the  situation  caused  Carolina  a 
moment's  wrestle  with  error.  The  burning  eyes 
of  the  young  mother  fastened  on  Carolina's  face 
with  such  agonizing  belief,  —  the  feeble  flutter- 


238  CAROLINA  LEE 

ings  of  the  sleeping  baby  in  her  arms  terrified 
her  for  a  brief  second.  Then  she  lifted  her  heart 
to  the  boundless  source  of  supply  for  every  human 
need,  and  in  a  moment  she  felt  quieted  and  could 
begin. 

"  Flower,"  she  said,  "  do  you  believe  in  God?  " 

"  Of  course  I  do." 

"  Did  you  ever  read  your  Bible?  " 

"  No." 

"  Have  you  one?  " 

"  No." 

"  Will  you  promise  to  read  it  if  I  will  give  you 
one?" 

"  I  will  do  whatever  you  want  me  to." 

Carolina  hesitated  a  moment. 

"  Will  your  husband  object  to  your  trying  Chris 
tian  Science  with  the  baby?  " 

"  I  don't  know  —  yes,  I  suppose  he  will.  What 
shall  we  do?  " 

"  What  will  he  want  to  do  when  he  first  learns 
that  the  baby  is  blind  ?  " 

"  I  reckon  he'll  want  to  have  Doctor  Dodge  see 
him." 

"  There  is  no  objection  to  that.  Then  what  will 
he  do?" 

"  There  isn't  anything  we  can  do  just  now, 
Cousin  Carol.  We  have  had  a  dreadful  time  even 
to  live  since  we  were  married.  And  look  what  a 


CAROLINA  LEE  239 

shanty  we  live  in !  Not  fit  for  a  negro.  And  Win- 
field  a  La  Grange!  Of  course,  if  the  crops  are 
better  next  year  we  might  be  able  to  take  him 
away  to  consult  some  big  doctor,  but  this  winter 
we  can't  do  anything  at  all." 

"  I  don't  know  what  to  do,"  said  Carolina. 
"  You  ought  to  get  your  husband's  consent  first." 

"  Well,  what  do  you  want  me  to  do?  Does  your 
treatment  commence  right  away?" 

"  It  is  already  begun." 

"  Why,  how  ?  You  haven't  done  anything  that 
I  could  see.  Do  you  pray?  " 

"  Not  to  any  virgin  or  saint,  Flower." 

"  No,  I  know  that  Protestants  pray  to  God.  Is 
that  what  you  want  me  to  do?  " 

"  I  want  you  first  to  have  a  talk  with  Winfield 
and  Moultrie  —  " 

"  Moultrie  will  help  me !  "  interrupted  Flower. 
"  I'll  ask  him  to  talk  to  Winfield." 

"  Well,  do  that.  Then  if  he  says  you  may  try  it, 
I  want  you  not  to  tell  another  soul,  especially  don't 
let  Aunt  Tempy  or  any  of  the  negroes  know  a  word 
about  it.  I  want  you  to  get  up  about  twelve  o'clock 
every  night  and  light  your  candle,  and  put  it  where 
it  shines  directly  in  the  baby's  eyes.  It  can't  hurt 
him.  Then  read  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament, 
—  just  as  much  every  night  as  you  can  for  one 
hour,  believing  that  everything  which,  was  true  of 


240  CAROLINA  LEE 

Jesus  and  His  disciples  then,  can  be  and  is  true  of 
His  disciples  on  earth  to-day,  and  that,  if  any  one 
of  us  could  ever  be  as  pure  and  holy  as  He  was, 
that  we  could  do  the  one  thing  which  is  denied  us 
yet,  —  that  is,  raise  the  dead !  Will  you  ?  " 

"  Indeed,  I  will." 

"  Then  every  night  I  will  treat  your  baby's  eyes 
by  mind-healing,  which  I  will  explain  to  you  a 
little  later.  In  the  meantime,  you  watch  very  closely 
to  see  the  first  indication  which  Arthur's  eyes  give 
of  the  light's  making  him  stir,  for  that  will  show 
that  his  darkness  is  lifting  and  that  he  is  beginning 
to  see." 

Flower  raised  herself  up  and  clung  to  Carolina's 
knees  and  buried  her  face  in  her  dress,  weeping 
bitterly. 

"  Oh,  oh !  Don't  think  I  am  unhappy.  I  am 
crying  because  I  think  you  can  do  it.  How  long 
will  it  take?" 

"  No  one  can  say.  It  may  only  take  one  treat 
ment,  or  it  may  take  years.  *  According  to  your 
faith  be  it  unto  you.'  ' 

Just  then,  as  Carolina  rose  to  go,  the  baby  wak 
ened,  and  Flower  reached  for  him  and  pressed  him 
to  her  bosom  in  a  passion  of  grief  and  hope. 

"Look!"  she  whispered  to  Carolina,  "you  can 
tell  from  the  very  expression  of  his  little  eyes  that 
he  can't  see.  I  remember  now  that  once  the  sun 


CAROLINA  LEE  241 

was  shining  right  into  his  eyes,  and  he  kept  them 
open,  but  I  didn't  notice  it  at  the  time." 

"  Remember  this,  Flower.  We  think  that  he 
can't  see.  But  in  God's  eyes  he  is  perfect.  With 
Him  there  is  no  blindness  nor  sickness  nor  sin 
nor  sorrow.  He  will  take  away  your  grief.  He 
will  wipe  away  all  tears  from  your  eyes." 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

A   LETTER    FROM    CAROLINA 

" '  THE  BATH,'  ENTERPRISE,  S.  C, 

"  January  27,  19 — 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  HOWARD  :  —  If  only  I  could  drop 
in  on  you  this  evening  and  make  my  report  in  per 
son,  what  couldn't  I  tell !  You  would  laugh  if  you 
knew  why  we  call  our  house  The  Bath.  But  first, 
have  I  ever  told  you  that  we  have  a  house?  Well, 
Guildford  is  so  far  from  even  Whitehall,  which  is 
the  nearest  place  we  visited,  that  I  lost  too  much 
time  in  coming  and  going.  I  must  have  been  eight 
hours  in  the  saddle  some  days,  and  I  didn't  get  on 
fast  enough  to  suit  my  leaping  ambition,  —  and  — 
bathrooms  are  scarce  in  the  country,  so  Cousin  Lois 
and  I  decided  to  build  a  model  cabin  or  quarters 
before  we  started  the  house,  and  live  on  the  place. 
There  was  already  a  windmill,  so  I  ordered  a 
porcelain  tub  in  Charleston,  and  built  my  house 
around  it.  Cousin  Lois  preempts  it  most  of  the 
time,  but  I  get  my  full  share,  and  it  is  a  luxury. 
Did  you  ever  try  going  without  a  bathroom?  Try 
it.  It  will  make  you  '  t'ink  ob  yo'  marcies,'  as  the 
negroes  say. 

242 


CAROLINA  LEE  243 

"  Oh,  we  are  so  happy !  Every  day  some  of  the 
dear  neighbours  who  knew  Guildford  in  its  prime 
ride  or  drive  over  to  tell  me  little  forgotten  quirks 
of  the  blessed  place,  and  to  assure  me  that  I  am 
copying  it  faithfully.  Cousin  Lois  calls  it  curiosity, 
but  I  think  it  is  interest.  But  the  primitive  meth 
ods  in  vogue  in  the  South  —  well,  you  simply  would 
not  believe  me  unless  you  saw  them.  For  example, 
at  the  turpentine  plant  at  Schoville,  which  I  will 
tell  you  more  of  later,  my  engineer  found  them 
ladling  out  the  crude  turpentine  by  hand,  when 
you  know  it  ought 'to  be  piped,  and  half  the  time 
this  cheap  negro  labour,  which  they  hire  to  save 
machinery,  is  drunk  or  striking,  which  often  shuts 
down  the  plant  for  days  at  a  time,  —  ten  days  at 
Christmas  always.  Machinery  may  be  expensive, 
but,  at  least,  it  doesn't  get  drunk,  and  by  means 
of  it  a  man  may  run  his  business,  even  in  the  South, 
regularly,  and  so  build  up  a  reputation  for  relia 
bility,  which,  honestly,  Mr.  Howard,  nobody  down 
here  seems  to  know  the  meaning  of,  as  we  under 
stand  it!  Any  excuse  serves.  Just  make  your  ex 
cuse  —  that's  all.  It  not  only  seems  to  relieve  the 
conscience  of  the  purveyor,  but  satisfies  the  con 
sumer  as  well.  In  Georgia  it  is  a  State  law  not  to 
move  freight  on  Sunday.  Imagine  that,  added  to  the 
railroad  service  as  it  stands !  And  in  a  certain  town 
in  Middle  Georgia,  the  fire-engines  are  drawn  by 


244  CAROLINA  LEE 

oxen.  I  enclose  the  kodak  I  took  of  it,  for  I  know 
you  won't  believe  me  else.  One  thing  the  South 
needs  more  than  anything  else  is  some  of  our  North 
ern  Italian  labour.  Then  the  negroes  will  see  what 
it  really  is  to  work. 

"  But  I  am  running  away  with  myself. 

"  I  shall  skip  all  I  can,  and  only  tell  the  essen 
tials. 

"  After  we  left  Whitehall,  nothing  would  do  but 
we  must  pay  a  round  of  visits  among  the  Lees  and 
La  Granges,  which  we  did,  staying  as  short  a  time 
as  possible  with  each,  partly  because  I  could  not 
properly  attend  to  my  work,  and  partly  because  of 
the  heart-breaking  poverty  of  all  my  poor  dear  rela 
tives.  If  you  could  only  see  their  bravery,  their 
pride,  and  their  wholly  absurd  fury  at  the  bare  sug 
gestion  that  ease  and  comfort  might  come  to  them 
from  admitting  Northern  capital!  I  think  if  they 
knew  that  my  money  comes  through  you,  they 
would  force  me  to  starve  with  them  rather  than  be 

indebted  to  a Yankee.  The  ladies  don't  use 

that  word  with  their  lips,  but  their  eyes  say  it. 
As  it  is,  they  think  I  am  still  selling  my  jewels. 
And  I  don't  contradict  them,  simply  because  there 
is  no  use  in  giving  them  pain.  Their  hatred  of  the 
North  is  something  which  cannot  be  eradicated  in 
a  day.  It  is  a  factor  in  business  which  blocks  the 
path  of  every  well-wisher  of  the  South,  and  is  an 


CAROLINA  LEE  245 

entity  to  be  reckoned  with  just  as  palpably  as  credit. 
The  man  who  ignores  it  makes  a  mistake  which 
sooner  or  later  will  bring  him  up  with  a  jerk.  I 
dwell  upon  this,  because,  if  we  form  the  syndicate 
which  you  propose,  it  must  be  managed  craftily, 
and  I  know  you  will  not  disregard  my  warning. 

"  As  an  example  of  it,  let  me  tell  what  has  be 
fallen  the  plant  for  making  wood  turpentine  at 
Schoville,  Georgia.  It  is  a  fine,  modern,  up-to-date 
plant  of  the  steam  process,  backed  and  controlled 
by  Judd  Brothers  &  Morgan,  of  Brooklyn.  Their 
representative  approached  my  counsel,  offering  to 
sell.  The  Brooklyn  firm  own  fifty-one  per  cent,  of 
the  stock,  and  the  rest  is  taken  by  citizens  of  Scho 
ville.  I  sent  my  man,  Donohue,  down  to  investi 
gate  the  process,  intending,  if  I  didn't  buy,  to  or 
ganize  a  similar  company  and  operate  under  their 
patents,  as  I  find  theirs,  if  not  the  best,  is  at  least 
a  satisfactory  process,  and  turns  out  a  pure  water- 
white  turpentine  with  a  specific  gravity  of  31.70. 
And  Donohue  asserts  that  by  the  use  of  steam 
he  can  eliminate  the  objectionable  odour.  He  has 
been  in  the  employ  of  both  the  Schoville  and  the 
Lightning  companies  and  is  a  valuable  man,  though 
not  strictly  honest.  Donohue  was  satisfied  that 
there  was  something  wrong  at  Schoville,  and  ad 
vised  me  to  hold  off.  He  reported  the  plant  out 
of  repair,  although  the  books  showed  money  in 


246  CAROLINA  LEE 

plenty  supplied  by  the  owners.  Donohue  then  vis 
ited  the  plant  at  Lightning,  Georgia,  and  found 
everything  all  right.  It  has  since  transpired  that 
the  foreman  of  the  plant  at  Schoville,  a  cracker 
named  Leakin,  had  deliberately  shipped  crude  tur 
pentine,  which  of  course  was  of  rank  odour  and 
off  colour,  to  the  factors  at  Savannah,  who  shipped 
it  to  Germany  and  South  America  without  giving 
it  a  very  careful  examination.  As  is  usual  with 
these  men,  they  were  too  slack  to  make  the  thor 
ough  examination  before  making  shipment  which 
the  law  requires,  and  paid  over  an  advance  of 
thirty-five  cents  a  gallon  to  Leakin  like  innocent 
little  lambs.  Of  course,  the  inevitable  occurred. 
Buenos  Ayres  and  Berlin  not  only  refused  to  pay, 
but  returned  the  consignment,  and  the  Savannah 
factors  now  refuse  to  touch  wood  turpentine  at  any 
price. 

"  It  seems  that,  when  the  Northern  owners  sent 
their  representative  down  to  investigate,  Leakin 
frankly  told  him  that  he  did  not  intend  to  make 

money  for  any  Yankees.  They  thereupon 

swore  out  a  warrant  for  his  arrest,  but  he  wrecked 
the  plant  at  night  and  was  hurried  out  of  town  by 
his  relatives. 

"  Now,  so  far  from  discouraging  me,  this  serves 
my  purpose  well.  For  with  sixty  per  cent,  profit  on 
the  manufacture  of  wood  turpentine  on  paper  (as 


CAROLINA  LEE  247 

per  my  previous  reports),  which  cuts  to  between 
forty  and  fifty  in  actual  operation,  it  is  one  of  the 
future  industries  of  the  South.  Of  course  the  little 
plant  I  propose  to  build  at  Guildford  or  near  by  will 
only  be  a  mouthful.  I  figure  that  between  ten  and 
twelve  millions  of  dollars  would  corner  the  turpen 
tine  market,  and  then  put  the  price  of  orchard  tur 
pentine  so  high  that  it  would  practically  be  off  the 
market.  Then  we  could  force  the  consumers  to 
take  wood  turpentine  in  its  place,  and  in  this  way 
show  them  that  it  will  do  the  same  work  and  bring 
the  same  results  as  the  regular  orchard  turpentine. 
They  are  afraid  of  it  now,  so  they  must  be  reduced 
by  compulsion  to  giving  it  a  fair  trial.  I  bought 
ten  barrels  of  wood  turpentine  made  by  the  com 
pany  at  Lightning,  and  sent  a  small  sample  to  every 
paint  and  varnish  manufacturer  in  the  United 
States,  with  a  letter  giving  them  the  chemical  anal 
ysis  and  asking  the  recipient  to  give  it  a  fair  trial. 
About  one-third  replied  that  it  seemed  satisfactory, 
and  sent  me  orders  for  from  five  to  ten  barrels  for 
a  trial,  but  they  want  it  at  about  ten  cents  per  gallon 
less  than  the  orchard.  It  seems  that  no  one  will 
pay  within  ten  cents  of  the  regular  market  price. 
I  turned  these  orders  over  to  the  Lightning  com 
pany  on  a  commission,  and  am  making  quite  a 
neat  little  sum  out  of  it,  though  I  never  thought 
of  that  end  of  the  proposition  when  I  sent  out  the 


248  CAROLINA  LEE 

samples.  I  tried  the  experiment  to  see  what  sort 
of  a  market  I  could  look  for.  There  is  no  reason 
why  this  wood  turpentine  should  not  be  shipped 
and  sold  as  regular  turpentine,  and  one  good  strong 
corner  on  the  market  will  bring  this  about. 

'  To  continue  my  investigations,  I  want  you  to 
organize  a  small  company,  giving  me  control.  I 
shall  erect  a  twenty-cord  plant  between  Enterprise 
and  Guildford,  within  wagon  distance  of  the  wood- 
supply  of  the  estate.  Recollect  that  this  process 
uses  only  the  fallen  trees  and  stumps  of  the  long- 
leafed  pine,  which  are  reduced  to  a  sawdust,  and 
this  is  then  put  into  the  retorts.  Steam  is  then 
injected,  which  tries  out  the  turpentine,  'which  is 
then  run  into  the  refining  still. 

"  I  can  arouse  no  interest  whatever  among  my 
relatives.  They  simply  think  I  am  crazy.  I  even 
suggested  to  my  uncle,  Judge  Fanshaw  Lee,  of 
Charleston,  the  simple  proposition  of  joining  me 
in  the  purchase  of  a  stump-puller  to  clear  his  land 
for  rice  and  cotton,  but  he  wouldn't  do  it,  and  con 
tinues  to  plant  in  fields  dotted  with  old  stumps. 
But  he  will  rent  it  from  me  if  /  buy  one !  So  please 
order  immediately  the  most  improved  sort,  and  con 
sign  it  to  me  at  Enterprise,  S.  C. 

"  Even  though  I  am  a  Southerner  by  blood,  and 
anxious  to  improve  the  country  in  general,  and  my 
relatives  in  particular,  I  work  under  inconceivable 


CAROLINA  LEE  249 

difficulties.  I  sent  my  lawyer  to  one  of  the  biggest 
factors  in  Savannah,  by  the  name  of  James  Old- 
field,  to  suggest  a  combine  to  corner  turpentine, 
offering  to  raise  nine  million  dollars,  if  he  and  his 
friends  would  raise  one  million.  Legare  reported 
that  '  Oldfield's  head  hit  the  ceiling '  at  the  mere 
suggestion.  But,  upon  being  drawn  out,  Oldfield 
admitted  that  twenty  years  ago  he  had  entertained 
a  similar  idea,  although,  of  course,  at  that  time  not 
for  the  purpose  of  introducing  wood  turpentine. 
But  his  ideas  were  on  too  narrow-gauge  a  plan 
to  admit  the  suggestion  now.  So  we  shall  simply 
be  obliged  to  do  it  without  him. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that,  with  the  South  in  the 
mental  attitude  it  now  holds,  it  will  need  some 
radical  means,  such  as  a  turpentine  corner,  to  force 
Southern  landowners  to  reinvest  money  in  their 
own  property.  Many  a  man  is  land  poor  with  thou 
sands  of  dollars'  worth  of  stumps  and  fallen  trees 
on  his  land  wrhich  are  suitable  for  wood  turpentine. 
In  order  to  supply  the  demand,  the  orchard  people 
are  obliged  each  year  to  find  two  million  acres  of 
virgin  forest  for  their  operations.  After  bleeding 
these  for  three  years,  the  lumber  men  then  enter 
and  cut  the  timber,  thus  leaving  millions  of  fallen 
trees  and  stumps,  all  of  which  are  suitable  for  our 
process.  Now,  it  would  take  years  to  educate  these 
landowners  in  the  process  of  extracting  turpentine 


250  CAROLINA  LEE 

from  this  stumpage,  while  a  corner  in  orchard  tur 
pentine  would,  in  three  months,  turn  the  attention 
of  half  the  chemists  and  inventors  in  the  United 
States  toward  bettering  present  processes  and  dis 
covering  new  ones.  Every  newspaper  in  the  land 
would  give  this  New  Southern  Industry  millions 
of  dollars'  worth  of  free  advertising,  and  inside  of 
ten  years  the  whole  South  would  blossom  as  a  rose. 

"  I  have  hinted  at  this  before,  but  have  not  ex 
plained  it  because  'the  time  was  not  ripe.  Now, 
after  six  months  of  untiring  investigation  by  trust 
worthy  agents,  and  after  bitter  personal  experience, 
I  find  that  no  help  whatsoever  can  be  expected  from 
the  South.  Rather  they  will  fight  us  at  every  step, 
like  children  compelled  to  take  medicine.  Did  you 
ever  see  a  health  officer  try  to  vaccinate  a  negro 
settlement  on  the  outbreak  of  a  smallpox  epidemic? 

"You  understand  me,  do  you  not?  Tell  me  if 
I  make  my  point  sufficiently  clear.  I  propose  to 
corner  turpentine,  not  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
the  price,  but  to  take  the  orchard  stuff  completely 
off  the  market  until  we  have  forced  the  public  to 
give  wood  turpentine  a  trial.  It  has  been  demon 
strated  in  every  department  that  the  patented  pro 
duct  will  do  the  work  of  the  orchard,  not  only  just 
as  well,  but  in  some  cases,  as  that  of  paint,  it  actu 
ally  holds  the  colour  better. 

"  If  you  are  still  interested,  let  me  know  and  I 


CAROLINA  LEE  251 

will  explain  my  developed  plan.  Meanwhile  I  wel 
come  suggestions  from  you,  or  any  of  your  inter 
ested  parties. 

"  With  devoted  love  to  all  in  your  dear  house, 
I  am,  Always  affectionately  yours, 

"  CAROLINA  LEE." 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

IN    THE    BARNWELLS'    CARRYALL 

AUNT  ANGIE  LA  GRANGE  descended  from  the 
Barnwells'  carryall  in  front  of  the  station  platform 
at  Enterprise,  and  tapped  on  the  window  of  the 
telegraph-agent's  box. 

"  How  late  is  the  train  from  Savannah,  Barney, 
son?" 

Mr.  Mazyck  sauntered  out. 

"  Only  about  three  hours  to-day,  Aunt  Angie. 
Expecting  the  folks  ?  " 

"  Only  Peachie.  Mrs.  Winchester  and  Carolina 
went  on  down  to  Jacksonville  on  business.  Did 
you  ever  see  such  a  girl  ?  " 

"  I  never  did.  She  scares  me  'most  to  death.  I'd 
like  to  marry  her,  Aunt  Angie,  but  what  could  I 
—  what  could  any  man  do  with  such  a  wife?" 

"  She'd  make  any  man  rich.  Moultrie  says  she 
goes  so  far  ahead  of  him  in  her  ideas  of  business, 
he  can't  even  keep  her  in  sight." 

"  Oh,  any  man  has  got  to  make  up  his  mind  to 
take  her  dust !  "  laughed  Barnwell. 

"  Are  you  in  earnest  about  marrying  her,  Bar 
ney?" 

353 


CAROLINA  LEE  253 

"  Of  cou'se  I  am !  Aren't  all  the  boys  ?  Isn't 
Moultrie?" 

A  shade  darkened  Aunt  Angle's  face. 

"  You  know,  son,  that  Moultrie  will  never  marry 
unless  —  " 

"  Exactly !  Unless !  Well,  there's  a  heap  of 
unlesses  which  may  he'p  him  to  change  his  mind. 
And  maybe  Miss  Carolina  is  one  of  them." 

"  I'd  be  proud  to  have  him  win  her,  but,  as  you 
say,  all  the  boys  are  in  love  with  her,  here  and  in 
Charleston,  and  now  she  has  been  to  Savannah, 
I  suppose  they  will  follow  suit,  and  —  " 

"  Poor  Jacksonville !  "  sighed  Barnwell. 
.  Mrs.  La  Grange  laughed. 

"  We  haven't  had  such  a  belle  in  South  Carolina 
in  many  years,"  she  said.  "Before  the  war  —  " 
and  she  sighed. 

Barney  laughed  unfeelingly,  and  Mrs.  La  Grange 
continued : 

"  How  about  Araby,  son  ?  Are  you  going  to  sell 
her  to  Carolina?  " 

"  Indeed  I  am  not,  Aunt  Angie.  I'd  give  her  to 
Miss  Carolina  before  I'd  sell  her  to  anybody  else; 
but,  to  tell  you  the  (truth,  I'd  about  die  if  I  had 
to  part  with  that  mare!  She's  human.  Sound  as 
a  dollar  and  not  a  trick  of  any  kind.  That  nigger 
horse-trainer  is  a  magician  with  animals.  I'm 
blest  if  I  don't  believe  he'll  teach  Araby  to  talk 


254  CAROLINA  LEE 

before  he  quits.  And  she  whinnies  if  she  even 
passes  him  in  a  crowd." 

"  Carolina  wants  her  worse  than  anything  in  the 
world." 

"  Well,  she  can  just  go  awn  wantin',"  said  the 
usually  gallant  Mr.  Mazyck,  ungallantly.  "  If  I'd 
give  Araby  to  her,  I'd  lose  both  my  mare  and  my 
sweetheart." 

"  Somehow  or  other  I  can't  help  thinking  that 
Carolina  will  get  that  horse  in  spite  of  you.  Bar 
ney,  do  go  and  see  what  time  it  is!  This  is  the 
third  time  I've  been  down  here  to  wait  for  this 
mean  train !  " 

"  Yonder  she  comes  now.  Only  three  hours  and 
fifteen  minutes  late.  That's  not  so  bad,  Aunt 
Angie.  When  she  tries,  she  can  tardy  herself  up  a 
heap  mo'  than  that !  " 

Mrs.  'La  Grange  anxiously  scanned  the  shabby 
coaches  for  a  sight  of  her  daughter's  blooming  face. 
Peachie  jumped  from  the  car  steps  and  ran  to  her 
mother's  arms.  They  'kissed  each  other  like  two 
lovers  who  had  been  parted  for  years. 

"  Have  you  had  a  pleasant  week,  darling  baby  ?  " 
asked  her  mother. 

Peachie's  pink  cheeks  paled  and  her  face  clouded 
over. 

"  No,  I  haven't,"  she  whispered,  hurriedly,  "  but 


CAROLINA  LEE  255 

I  don't  want  anybody  but  you  to  know.  Don't  let 
Barney  ask  me.  Let's  hurry." 

Mrs.  La  Grange  led  the  way  to  the  borrowed 
carriage  with  a  sinking  heart.  Aside  from  two 
visits  to  her  aunt  in  Charleston,  this  was  the  only 
time  Peachie  had  ever  been  away  from  home.  And 
now  to  have  this  invitation  to  visit  Savannah,  given 
the  year  before  and  anticipated  all  this  time,  turn 
into  the  failure  which  Peachie's  face  indicated,  was 
almost  as  great  a  disappointment  to  Mrs.  La  Grange 
as  to  the  girl  herself. 

In  the  carriage,  where  Old  Moses  could  not  hear 
them,  the  mother  anxiously  awaited  the  story. ' 

"  Begin  at  the  beginning  and  don't  skip  a  word. 
We've  two  good  hours  before  us  with  nobody  to 
interrupt." 

"  Well,  you  know  how  happy  Carolina  was  at 
the  prospect  of  taking  me  to  a  fine  hotel  like  the 
De  Soto,  and  how  lovely  my  clothes  were,  and  how 
pleased  Cousin  Lois  was  at  the  prospect  of  seeing 
her  old  friends  there  ?  Well,  people  called,  of 
course,  —  none  of  the  girls,  though,  —  and  Mrs. 
General  Giddings,  who  is  the  leader  of  Savannah  so 
ciety,  at  once  asked  Cousin  Lois  to  be  a  chaperon  at 
the  Valentine  Ball.  John  Hobson  invited  me,  and 
Jim  Little  asked  Carolina,  and,  do  you  know,  it 
was  the  first  time  in  all  her  life  that  Carolina  had 
ever  been  to  a  ball  with  a  man !  She  says  she  always 


256  CAROLINA  LEE 

went  with  a  chaperon  and  met  her  partners  at  the 
dance.  And  she  wanted  to  do  that  in  Savannah, 
but  Mrs.  Giddings  assured  her  that  it  was  all  right, 
and  so  she  did. 

"  Oh,  mother,  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  us  that 
night!  You  know  how  I  looked,  but  Cousin  Lois 
wore  a  black  satin  brocade,  studded  with  real  tur 
quoises  and  blue  ostrich  feathers  woven  into  the 
goods.  And,  with  all  her  size,  she  looked  perfectly 
lovely.  Carolina  wore  a  white  Paris  muslin  over 
white  silk,  with  every  flounce  trimmed  with  real 
lace.  Her  hair  looked  as  if  she  only  had  one  pin 
in  it,  it  was  so  loose  and  fluffy  and  —  well,  artistic 
is  the  only  word  to  describe  her.  She  looked  like 
a  fairy  princess.  It  began  in  the  dressing-room." 

"What  began? 

"  Well  —  Savannah  began !  "  cried  Peachie.  "  I 
never  heard  of  such  things  happening  to  our  girls 
when  they  go  to  Atlanta  and  Columbus  and  Au 
gusta  and  Macon,  while  as  for  Charleston !  —  well, 
I  needn't  defend  Charleston  manners  to  you, 
mother ! 

"  Not  a  soul  spoke  to  us,  although  everybody 
knew  we  were  strangers  and  everybody  knew  who 
we  were,  for  of  course  it  was  in  the  papers,  —  such 
distinguished  arrivals  as  Mrs.  Rhett  Winchester 
and  Carolina  Lee !  But  not  a  girl  came  near.  They 
hollered  and  joked  among  themselves,  and  some- 


CAROLINA  LEE  257 

body  would  whisper  to  two  or  three,  then  the  whole 
roomful  would  scream  like  wild  Indians,  and  once 
one  of  the  boys  came  to  the  door  and  called  to  them 
to  hurry  up,  and  one  girl  screamed  back,  '  Shut  yo' 
big  mouth ! '  and  the  rest  fairly  yelled  with  ap 
proval. 

"  Then  one  girl  was  just  going  out  with  her 
bodice  all  gaping  open,  and  Carolina  stepped  up  to 
her  as  sweetly  as  if  she  had  been  received  with 
perfect  politeness  and  asked  if  she  mightn't  fasten 
it.  The  hooks  were  half  off,  so  Carolina  took  a 
paper  of  pins  and  fairly  pinned  that  girl  into  her 
clothes,  —  her  waist  and  skirt  didn't  meet.  She 
accepted  all  this  help,  thanked  her,  and  went  out, 
leaving  us  all  alone.  Then  our  boys  came  and  took 
us  down  to  the  ballroom,  and,  if  you  will  believe  it, 
mother,  not  a  girl  came  near  us  or  asked  to  be 
introduced  or  introduced  a  single  boy!  Not  even 
the  girl  that  Carolina  had  helped.  I  looked  at  Caro 
lina  to  see  if  she  noticed  it,  but  her  face  was  as 
calm  as  it  always  is.  Her  colour,  however,  was  a 
little  less  than  usual  at  first. 

"  We  noticed  that  things  sort  of  dragged  at  first, 
and  soon  we  found  out  what  it  was.  An  English 
yacht  was  in  the  river,  and  its  owner,  Sir  Hu 
bert  Wemyss,  a  young  man  only  about  thirty,  was 
expected,  and  all  the  girls  were  trying  to  save 


258  CAROLINA  LEE 

dances  for  him,  and  all  the  boys  were  trying  to  get 
the  choice  ones. 

"  The  first  dance  I  didn't  watch  Carolina,  because 
I  had  heard  that  Jim  Little  was  a  good  dancer,  but, 
after  it  was  over,  I  saw  him  take  her  to  the  door 
and  she  went  up  to  the  dressing-room.  I  made 
John  stop  near  him,  and  I  asked  him  what  was  the 
matter.  '  Oh,  I  stuck  my  foot  through  the  lace  of 
her  dress,  and  she's  gone  to  be  sewed  up.  Say, 
Miss  Peachie,  that  girl  can't  dance!  I  never  saw 
a  Yankee  that  could ! ' 

"  Well,  mother,  I  could  scarcely  believe  my  ears ! 
The  conceit  of  that  raw  Southern  boy,  who  never 
had  been  outside  of  his  own  little  town  in  the  whole 
of  his  life,  except  to  go  duck-shooting  in  the 
swamps,  to  presume  to  criticize  Carolina's  danc- 
ing!" 

"  What  did  you  say  to  him,  sweetheart?  " 

Aunt  Angie's  cheeks  were  as  red  as  any  girl's. 
She  sat  bolt  upright  in  the  borrowed  carriage,  in 
her  cheap  print  dress  and  cotton  gloves,  looking 
like  an  empress.  The  proudest  blood  in  South  Caro 
lina  flowed  in  her  veins  and  she  had  the  spirit  of  her 
State. 

"  I  said,  '  Are  you  sure,  Mr.  Little,  that  the  fault 
was  all  hers?  '  And  he  laughed  and  said,  '  Well,  the 
Savannah  girls  never  find  fault  with  my  dancing, 
Miss  Peachie! '  'Oh,'  I  said,  'if  such  criterions  have 


CAROLINA  LEE  259 

stamped  their  approval  on  you,  Mr.  Little,  of  course 
there  is  no  more  to  be  said ! '  He  didn't  see  the 
sarcasm  at  all,  —  he  seems  a  trifle  dense.  So  we 
waited  for  Carolina,  and  when  she  came  back,  I 
saw  that  her  dress  was  ruined,  but  she  had  managed 
to  hide  it  pretty  well,  and  her  manner  was  just  as 
sweet  to  that  man  as  if  he  had  been  fanning  her, 
and  we  all  four  went  back  to  Cousin  Lois. 

"  The  next  dance  we  changed  partners,  Jim  Little 
taking  me  and  John  Hobson  taking  Carolina.  Now 
John  is  said  to  be  the  best  dancer  in  Savannah,  so 
I  kept  an  eye  on  them,  but  they  didn't  do  very  well. 
Carolina's  colour  began  to  rise  and  her  eyes  began 
to  grow  that  purplish  black  —  you  remember  ?  Oh, 
she  looked  so  beautiful!  But  she  wasn't  enjoying 
herself,  and  she  stopped  near  me  to  rest.  Then 
I  heard  John  say,  '  You  dance  more  like  a  Southern 
girl  than  any  Yankee  I  ever  knew ! '  Think, 
mother!  That  was  twice  she  had  been  called  a 
Yankee  before  we  had  been  there  an  hour.  A 
Lee  of  South  Carolina!  Her  cheeks  just  grew 
a  little  warmer  and  she  lifted  her  chin  a  little  higher, 
but  didn't  correct  him  —  just  said,  '  I  suppose  you 
intend  that  for  a  compliment,  Mr.  Hobson  ?  '  'I 
should  say  I  did ! '  he  said.  '  I  never  saw  a  Yankee 
girl  who  could  dance  in  all  my  born  days ! '  '  How 
do  you  account  for  that?'  asked  Carolina,  in  just 


260  CAROLINA  LEE 

as  sweet  a  tone,  mother,  as  she  always  uses.  Me? 
I  was  just  boiling!  I  was  ready  to  cry!" 

Her  mother  pressed  her  hand.  Aunt  Angle's 
own  lips  were  trembling  with  indignation. 

"  '  Oh,'  the  fool  said,  '  I  reckon  they  don't  get 
as  many  chances  to  dance  as  our  girls  do ! '  Well, 
that  saved  me.  I  began  to  laugh  and  I  laughed 
until  I  nearly  went  into  hysterics.  I  had  to  ex 
cuse  myself  and  ask  Jim  to  get  me  some  water !  " 

"  Did  Carolina  laugh,  too  ? "  asked  Mrs.  La 
Grange. 

"  Well,  she  smiled,  and  I  knew  from  that,  that 
she  was  only  holding  herself  in. 

"  The  next  was  a  Lancers.  Carolina  danced 
with  Rube  Bryan.  He  is  very  tall  and  from  the 
first  he  tried  to  get  fresh  with  Carolina.  I  was 
in  the  same  set  dancing  with  John  again.  And 
I  want  to  say  right  here  that  I  never  saw  such 
unladylike  and  ungentlemanly  dancing  in  all  my 
life.  Why,  in  Charleston  the  chaperons  would 
have  requested  the  whole  dance  to  be  stopped. 
They  wouldn't  have  permitted  such  hootings  and 
yellings,  such  jumps  and  shouts.  Girls  yelled  at 
each  other  across  the  whole  hall  —  just  like 
negroes.  '  Go  it,  Virgie ! '  '  Shake  a  foot,  Nell ! ' 
In  the  ladies'  chain  the  boys  jerked  the  girls  so 
that  one  girl  in  our  set  was  thrown  down  and  her 
wrist  sprained." 


CAROLINA  LEE  261 

"  I  was  getting  frightened  and  I  could  see  that 
Carolina  was  on  the  verge  of  leaving  the  set. 
Then  she  seemed  to  brace  herself,  for  Mrs.  Win 
chester  had  left  the  line  of  chaperons  and  was 
making  her  way  down  to  where  we  were  danc 
ing.  And  mother,  there  was  rage  in  her  whole 
bearing.  She  just  looked  as  if  Carolina  were  being 
insulted  by- dancing  with  such  rowdies.  But  Caro 
lina  gave  her  a  look  and  she  did  not  interfere.  She 
stood  there,  however." 

"Did  anything  happen,  Peachie?"  asked  Mrs. 
La  Grange,  unable  to  wait  for  the  sequel. 

"  Yes,  mother,  it  did.  I  believe  those  girls  had 
dared  him  to,  because  he  waited  until  the  very 
last,  then  he  lifted  Carolina  off  her  feet  clear  up 
into  the  air,  and  landed  her  in  front  of  Mrs.  Win 
chester  with  a  deep  bow.  Everybody  laughed  and 
screamed  for  a  minute,  then  something  in  the  at 
titude  of  both  Mrs.  Winchester  and  Carolina  made 
them  hush.  Cousin  Lois's  voice  was  low,  but  you 
could  hear  it  all  over  the  room. 

" '  Young  man,'  she  said,  '  your  name  is  un 
known  to  me,  but  let  me  say  to  you  that  you  are 
not  a  gentleman ! ' 

"  What  happened  then?  "   cried  Mrs.  La  Grange. 

"  Mrs.  Giddings,  of  ^course.  She  always  says 
the  cutting  thing.  '  You  are  perfectly  right,  Lois,' 
she  said,  '  the  man  is  a  nobody.  We  expect  such 


262  CAROLINA  LEE 

manners  from  nobodies.  Not  that  the  somebodies 
are  any  better,  if  this  dance  is  a  sample.  This  is 
my  first  appearance.  Rest  assured  that  it  will  be 
my  last.  We  Giddings  don't  chaperon  barn 
dances ! ' 

"  That,  from  Mrs.  Giddings,  seemed  to  sober 
them.  They  all  moved  away  leaving  Rube  Bryan 
bowing  and  scraping  and  trying  to  square  him 
self.  Cousin  Lois  simply  waved  him  aside  as  if 
he  were  a  piccaninny.  She  asked  Carolina  if  she 
wanted  to  go  home.  Carolina  hesitated  a  min 
ute,  then  she  lifted  that  chin  of  hers  and  said, 
'  No ;  a  Lee  cannot  be  driven  from  a  ballroom 
by  rudeness.  Just  let  me  go  and  put  on  my 
truth.'  " 

"  Bless  the  child !  "  cried  Mrs.  La  Grange,  who 
was  as  excited  as  a  spectator  at  his  first  horse-race. 
"  Bless  her !  There  is  pride !  There  is  what  the 
French  call  '  race '  !  And  to  see  the  clear  putting 
on  the  armour  of  her  religion  even  in  a  ball 
room!  " 

"  Mother,  Carolina's  religion  helps  her  in  every 
thing.  Why,  she  just  stepped  out  of  sight  behind 
a  row  of  palms.  She  went  to  a  window  and 
reached  up  one  arm  and  leaned  her  head  against 
it.  With  the  other  hand  she  drew  back  the  cur 
tain  and  looked  up  at  the  stars.  I  put  my  arm 
around  her  and  she  said,  in  a  low,  distinct  voice. 


CAROLINA  LEE  263 

'  The  eternal  God  is  thy  refuge  and  underneath 
are  the  everlasting  arms.'  'And  mother,  it  made 
the  tears  come  to  my  eyes.  To  think  of  my  beauti 
ful  Carolina,  with  nothing  but  love  'in  her  heart 
for  the  whole  South,  to  come  home  to  us  and  be 
treated  so  rudely  that  she  had  to  appeal  to  God 
to  help  her  to  get  through  something  which  ought 
to  have  been  only  a  pleasure  to  her ! " 

"  I  know,  my  dear  baby,"  said  her  mother,  whose 
own  eyes  were  suspiciously  bright,  "  but  I  rather 
imagine  that  to  a  girl  who  has  seen  the  best  so 
ciety  that  Europe  and  America  have  to  offer,  a 
dance  with  a  lot  of  Savannah  boys  and  girls  could 
not  be  considered  in  the  light  of  much  of  a 
treat." 

"  I  know  it,  mother.  Yet  Cousin  Carol's  man 
ners  are  so  perfect  that  she  never  lets  you  sus 
pect  that.  She  enters  into  everything  with  such 
love." 

"  That  is  her  religion,"    said  Mrs.  La  Grange. 

"  Oh,  that  reminds  me.  She  went  on  talking 
aloud  as  we  stood  there.  She  said,  '  I  must  re 
member  that  the  vesture  of  truth  is  my  raiment. 
I  must  stand  sentinel  at  the  door  of  my  thought 
and  not  allow  error  to  enter  it.  And  the  way  to 
keep  error  out,  is  to  pour  love  in.  Love!  Love! 
Love!  That  is  the'way  to  meet  them.  Father  — 
mother  —  God !  Help  me  to  love  mine  enemies ! ' 


264  CAROLINA  LEE 

Oh,  and  mother  dearest,  by  that  time  I  was  weep 
ing,  but  Carol's  eyes  were  quite  dry.  '  Don't  cry, 
little  girl/  she  said,  '  I  don't  any  more,  for  I  have 
got  beyond  the  belief  that  religion  is  an  emotion. 
It  is  too  real  —  too  lasting.  Emotions  die  out.' 
And  a  little  light  seemed  to  dawn  for  me  —  just 
as  I  have  seen  clouds  break  on  a  dark  night  and 
a  single  star  shine  through." 

"Then  did  you  go  back?"  asked  her  mother, 
after  a  pressure  of  the  hand  to  show  that  she  under 
stood.  There  >was  a  singular  bond  between  these 
two. 

"  Yes,  she  turned  and  pressed  my  hand  just  as 
you  did  then,  with  such  understanding,  and  her 
face  was  fairly  shining,  but  with  such  a  different 
radiance.  '  Come,  Peachie,  darling !  faithful  lit 
tle  comrade.  You  would  not  have  been  one  of 
the  disciples  who  slept  and  left  their  Master 
to  pray  alone,  would  you?  Well,  I  have  con 
quered  my  little  moment  of  error.  Now  let's  go 
back.'  '  And  show  them  how  South  Carolina  faces 
her  foes/  I  said.  '  Wouldn't  it  be  better  to  go 
back  and  show  them  how  South  Carolina  can  for 
give?  '  she  asked." 

"  Bless  her  heart !  "  murmured  Mrs.  La  Grange. 
"  I  know  how  a  young  girl  feels  to  be  mistreated 
at  a  ball." 

"  Yes,  but  wait.    The  grandest,  glorious-est  thing 


CAROLINA  LEE  265 

happened.  Just  as  we  came  from  behind  the 
palms  who  should  be  bowing  to  the  chaperons 
but  the  handsomest  man  I  ever  saw  in  my  life. 
Tall,  dark,  distinguished-looking,  with  one  white 
lock  of  hair  and  all  the  rest  black  as  a  coal.  He 
has  a  slight  limp  from  a  wound  at  Magersfontein, 
but  it  only  distinguished  him  the  more  and  doesn't 
interfere  with  his  dancing  a  bit.  Well,  when  he 
saw  Carolina,  his  face  lighted  up  and  he  said,  '  Oh, 
Miss  Lee,  how  awfully  jolly  to  see  you  again!  To 
tell  the  truth,  I  had  half  a  mind  not  to  come,  after 
all  I  had  promised,  and  I  wanted  to  get  out  of  it 
the  worst  way  until  I  heard  that  you  were  to  be 
here.  Then  I  couldn't  get  here  fast  enough.'  Well, 
mother,  even  if  every  girl  there  hadn't  sud 
denly  found  that  side  of  the  room  strangely  at 
tractive,  his  voice  has  a  carrying  tone,  and  — 
well,  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  those  girls.  They 
looked  as  though  they  had  been  slapped  in  the 
face." 

"  As  they  deserved !  "  said  Mrs.  La  Grange, 
grimly. 

"  Then  the  band  struck  up  a  two-step  and  he 
turned  to  Mrs.  Winchester  and  asked  her  if  she 
would  save  her  first  square  dance  for  him,  but  she 
said  she  wasn't  dancing.  So  then  he  asked  Caro 
lina.  She  gave  me  a  little  look  which  meant  that 
I  could  have  him  next,  and  then!  Well,  I've  seen 


266  CAROLINA  LEE 

dancing  all  my  life,  but  I  never  saw  anybody 
dance  as  those  two  did.  It  was  like  the  flight  of 
swallows.  So  graceful,  so  dignified,  so  distin 
guished,  and  yet  so  spirited.  Carolina  dances  like 
a  breeze." 

"  I  can  imagine  just  how  she  dances,"  cried 
Mrs.  La  Grange,  excitedly.  "  Go  on,  child !  " 

"  Well,  the  funniest  sight  of  all  was  Cousin 
Lois.  She  drew  her  chin  in  and  waved  her  fan 
and  puffed  herself  out  for  all  the  world  like  our 
turkey-hen.  I  could  have  laughed." 

"  I  know  just  how  she  felt  —  just  how  I  should 
have  felt  in  her  place  if  you  had  been  treated  as 
Carolina  was.  Then  did  he  dance  with  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  then  he  danced  with  me.  Then  with  Caro 
lina  again.  Then  she  said  to  him,  *  Now,  Sir 
Hubert,  I  want  you  to  meet  some  of  these  pretty 
girls,  but  as  I  don't  know  them  myself,  I  shall  ask 
Mr.  Little  to  take  you  around  and  introduce  you 
to  the  brightest  of  them,  so  that  you  will  take  away 
with  you  the  best  impression  of  our  Southern 
girls.'  " 

"  Oh,  Peachie !    I  couldn't  have  done  that !  " 

"  Nor  I  either,  mother.  I  just  couldn't.  So 
Jim  started  to  take  him,  but  he  said,  '  Just  wait 
a  moment.'  Then  he  came  to  me  and  took  — " 

"I  hope  he  took  more  than  one!"  cried  Mrs. 
La  Grange,  jealously. 


CAROLINA  LEE  267 

"  He  took  seven,  mother.  And  in  the  German  he 
favoured  me  until  —  " 

"  That  was  too  many,  Peachie.  You  ought 
not  —  " 

"  I  know,  dearest  honey  mother.  I  ought  not  to 
do  heaps  of  things  I  do  do,  but  after  all,  what 
do  I  care  what  those  people  think  of  me?  All  they 
can  say  is  that  I  flirted  with  him  —  " 

"  Or  that  he  flirted  with  you,"  laughed  her 
mother.  < 

"  Oh,  yes,  they  will  say  that,  never  fear.  And 
yet  —  " 

"And  yet  what,  my  darling?  Here  we  are  at 
home." 

"  And  yet  he  took  Cousin  Lois  and  Carolina  to 
Jacksonville  on  his  yacht,  and  he  asked  me  to  go, 
but  I  said  I  had  to  get  back  to  you,  and  he  was 
with  us  all  the  rest  of  the  time  we  were  there  —  " 

Her  mother  turned  and  looked  at  her. 

"  And  he  is  coming  to  see  me  on  his  way 
back." 

As  'Mrs.  La  Grange  stepped  from  the  carriage 
with  the  air  of  a  queen  descending  from  her  char 
iot,  she  put  her  arm  around  her  daughter's  waist 
and  said : 

"  I  think  I  have  to  be  proud  of  a  dear,  gener 
ous  little  girl  whose  loyalty  caused  an  otherwise 
pleasant  week  to  be  spoiled." 


268  CAROLINA  LEE 

Peachie's  cheeks  flushed  and  her  eyes  sparkled. 

"  It  wasn't  quite  spoiled,  mother  dear.  Oh, 
honey,  he  is  the  handsomest  man  and  the  best 
dancer!  Just  wait  till  you  see  him! " 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 
A  LETTER  FROM  KATE 

"  NEW  YORK. 

"  DEAREST  CAROLINA  :  —  Great  news !  Three 
pieces  of  it.  First,  I  have  turned  Christian  Scien 
tist  !  Second,  Rosemary  Goddard  is  married  to  the 
Honourable  Lionel  Spencer!  Third,  daddy  is  so 
tickled  over  all  that  you  have  done,  as  you  may  have 
suspected  from  his  letters  lately,  that  he  is  going 
down.  He  will  take  the  car,  and  Noel  and  Mrs. 
Goddard,  mother,  and  I  are  coming,  too!  Don't 
bother  about  accommodations.  We  will  switch  the 
car  to  a  siding  and  live  in  it.  We  may  all  have 
to  go  to  Charleston  and  Jacksonville,  so  that  you 
and  Peachie  and  a  handy  man  or  two  had  better 
get  ready  for  a  rip-roaring  old  time,  for  we  are 
going  to  make  Rome  howl.  Noel  wants  to  go  to 
Ormond  for  the  automobile  races.  He  has  entered 
his  machine.  I  named  it  for  him,  — '  The  White 
Moth,'  —  don't  you  think  that's  a  dandy  name? 

"  Now  to  go  back  to  the  really  important  thing. 
I've  wanted  to  be  a  Scientist  ever  since  I  found  out 
that  it  wasn't  a  drag-net  to  catch  all  the  cranks  in 

269 


270  CAROLINA  LEE 

the  world,  as  I  at  first  supposed.  I  found  that  out 
in  two  ways.  One,  by  knowing  a  lot  of  you  who 
were  not  in  the  least  cranks.  The  other,  by  seemg 
what  a  lot  of  cranks  there  are  left!  Yet  all  the 
time  I  was  hating  myself  and  struggling  against 
the  compelling  influence.  Did  you  ever  drag  a  cat 
across  the  carpet  by  the  tail?  Well,  that  is  just 
about  the  easy,  gliding  gait  I  used  to  reach  Chris 
tian  Science ! 

"  Still,  you'll  never  guess  who  influenced  me 
most.  Not  you  nor  that  heavenly  Mrs.  Goddard 
nor  the  wonderful  cures  I've  seen.  Nuh!  Guess 
again.  Old  Noel!  Yes,  sir.  Old  skeptical  Noel! 
Brought  up  for  a  Catholic,  too.  Wouldn't  that 
freeze  you?  Well,  think  si  to  myself,  think  si,  '  if 
old  Noel  can  see  good  in  it,  and  he's  the  best  all- 
round  sport,  man  of  the  world,  and  gentleman  I 
know,  it's  time  little  Katie  got  aboard.'  So  I  just 
climbed  on  the  raft  without  saying  a  word  to'  any 
body,  expecting  everybody  to  raise  Cain,  but,  to 
my  astonishment,  daddy  was  as  pleased  as  Punch, 
and  he  and  mother  go  to  church  with  me  every 
Sunday.  What  do  you  say  to  that? 

"  At  the  ball  the  Goddards  gave  for  Rosemary 
just  before  she  sailed,  I  was  doing  a  two-step  with 
Noel,  and  I  saw  a  dandy  girl,  whose  gown  simply 
reeked  of  Paris,  it  was  so  delicious.  She  was 
dancing  with  a  corking  looking  man,  and,  as  we 


CAROLINA  LEE  271 

stopped  near  them  for  me  to  get  a  better  look  at 
her  clothes,  I  heard  her  say,  '  Are  you  going  to 
communion  at  the  Mother  Church  ? '  and  he  said, 
'  I  never  miss  it.  It  is  the  treat  of  my  whole  year ! ' 
I  looked  at  Noel  and  he  looked  at  me. 

"'Noel,'  I  said,  'Did  I  hear  aright?  They 
weren't  betting  on  a  horse-race  in  cipher,  were 
they?'  'No,'  sez  he,  giggling,  'they  were  not. 
They  are  Christian  Scientists,  and  they  are  now 
talking  about  an  incorporeal  God.'  '  In  a  ballroom/ 
murmurs  I  to  myself.  '  Noel,'  I  said,  in  a  weak 
voice,  '  Take  me  out  and  lay  me  softly  under  a 
pump  and  bring  me  to.  I  am  too  young  to  go  dotty 
without  any  warning.'  But,  instead  of  that,  we 
joined  them  and  Noel  introduced  us  to  each  other, 
and  we  finished  the  ;  two-step  talking  about  how 
hard  it  was  to  change  from  our  old  idea  of  a  God 
who  was  so  much  like  a  man  that  we  had  to  flag 
Him  and  shout  out  our  prayers  to  be  sure  to  get 
His  attention.  I  used  to  feel  as  if  I  were  on  the 
floor  of  a  convention,  trying  to  catch  the  Speaker's 
eye. 

"  But  I  want  to  ask  you  two  things  that  I  can't 
quite  get  up  my  nerve  to  ask  Mrs.  Goddard.  What 
did  you  do  about  praying  while  changing  your  idea 
of  a  personal,  corporeal  God  to  one  of  spirit?  Why, 
Carolina,  I've  lost  the  combination !  I  feel  as 
though  I  were  praying  through  a  megaphone  out  of 


272  CAROLINA  LEE 

an  open  window.  My  prayers  don't  seem  to  strike 
against  anything.  Will  I  get  over  this  feeling  in 
time?  It  is  only  fair  to  state,  however,  that  even 
this  queer  hit-or-miss  method  brings  answers  which 
.my  most  frantic  screams  for  help  and  my  most 
humble  and  dependent  clinging  to  the  robe  of  my 
personal  God  never  did.  So  you  can  just  bet  that 
I'm  going  to  stick  to  the  new  method,  whether  I 
ever  understand  it  or  not,  because  it  does  deliver 
the  goods.  Am  I  right  or  wrong?  I  want  to 
know. 

"  Now,  I  did  tackle  Mrs.  Goddard  on  this  point. 
I  feel  a  perfect  wretch  to  mention  it,  but  the  fact 
is,  I  simply  cannot  endure  the  name  of  Mrs.  Eddy! 
Every  time  they  mention  '  Science  and  Health ' 
in  church,  they  say,  *  By  Mary  Baker  G.  Eddy/ 
Every  time  they  give  out  a  hymn  that  she  wrote, 
they  say,  '  By  Mary  Baker  G.  Eddy.'  And  every 
time  they  do  it,  my  blood  boils  and  my  face  burns 
and  I  grab  my  hymn-book  until  —  well,  I  split  a 
pair  of  gloves  nearly  every  Sunday! 

"  The  conceit  of  that  woman !  Suppose  she  has 
given  the  world  a  new  religion,  —  why  not  let  us 
show  our  gratitude  spontaneously.  Why  need  she 
say  such  conceited,  sacrilegious  things  in  her  book? 
She  throws  hot  air  at  herself  indirectly  in  every 
chapter.  It  reminds  me  of  a  page  in  Roosevelt's 
*  Alone  in  Cubia.'  I  counted  sixty-three  I's  on  one 


CAROLINA  LEE  273 

page  in  that  book,  until  I  felt  like  the  little  boy 
who  said  to  his  father,  after  an  evening  of  war 
experiences,  '  Papa,  couldn't  you  get  any  one  to 
help  you  put  down  the  rebellion  ?  ' 

"  I  don't  believe,  unless  my  feeling  changes,  that 
I  shall  ever  join  the  church  while  its  by-laws  remain 
as  they  are.  I  will  work  for  the  cause,  and  be  dili 
gent  and  faithful  and  studious,  but  I  disapprove  of 
a  church  being  such  a  close  corporation  and  for  one 
finite,  human  being  to  possess  such  power  as  Mrs. 
Eddy  holds,  and  holds  with  such  pertinacity  and 
deliberate  love  of  power. 

"  When  I  said  some  of  this  to  Mrs.  Goddard, 
she  said  that  she  never  chemicalized  over  Mrs.  Eddy 
the  way  great  numbers  did,  but  she  said  you  had 
a  claim  at  one  time,  and  I  want  to  know  if  you  are 
over  it.  I  feel  like  a  brute  to  have  to  admit  it  even 
to  you,  for  of  course  I  am  grateful  and  appreciative 
and  all  that.  But  if  you  call  what  I  feel  '  chemicaliz 
ing,'  I  can  only  say  that  I  can  hear  myself  sizzling 
like  a  bottle  of  Apollinaris  whenever  I  come  across 
the  name  of  Eddy,  and  realize  how  she  holds  the 
power  of  a  female  Pope. 

"  I  told  Noel  about  it,  but  he  doesn't  feel  it  at 
all.  Never  did.  But  he  understands  how  intensely 
I  suffer  from  it,  and  he  said  if  I  didn't  mind  my 
eye,  I'd  blow  off  a  tire  right  in  church.  And  once, 
when  he  took  me  and  saw  me  getting  red  in  the  face, 


274  CAROLINA  LEE 

he  said,  '  Now  sit  tight,  old  girl ! '  and  I  nearly 
laughed  aloud. 

"  Now  let  me  tell  you  my  first  demonstration. 
I  am  so  happy  over  it  I  am  going  to  do  something 
to  celebrate  it,  and  that's  another  thing  I  want  to 
consult  you  about. 

"  Yesterday  Noel  and  I  were  out  in  the  White 
Moth,  and  every  time  I  know  I  am  going  out  in 
the  thing  I  read  in  '  Science  and  Health '  about 
accidents,  and  declare  the  truth,  so  that  my  mind 
will  be  filled  with  a  preventive.  It  comforts  me 
a  great  deal  and  is  the  only  thing  that  enables  me 
to  enjoy  an  automobile  ride  in  New  York,  for,  with 
the  danger  of  blowing  up  and  other  people's  bad 
driving  and  frightened  horses  and  the  absolute 
recklessness  of  pedestrians,  you  take,  if  not  your 
life,  at  least  your  enjoyment  of  life,  in  your  hand 
whenever  you  get  into  a  machine. 

"  Noel  is  the  most  careful  chauffeur  I  ever  saw, 
and  we  were  just  trundling  along  out  in  the  Bronx, 
when,  without  a  word  of  warning,  a  little  bit  of 
a  boy  jumped  from  a  crowd  of  children  and  stum 
bled  right  in  front  of  us.  I  saw  him  fall,  and  to 
my  dying  day  I  never  shall  forget  the  sight  of 
his  little  white,  upturned  face  as  he  disappeared 
under  the  machine.  We  ran  right  squarely  over 
him! 

"  I  stood  up  and  screamed  out :    '  You  said  acci- 


CAROLINA  LEE  275 

dents  could  not  happen !  You  promised !  You  prom 
ised!  We  have  not  hurt  that  baby!  He  is  alive! 
He  is  not  hurt!  He  is  not  .even  run  over! '  And 
by  that  time  we  had  both  jumped  down  and  run 
back,  and  a  big  crowd  was  gathering.  Talk  about 
treating  audibly !  I  was  screeching  at  the  top  of  my 
voice.  Yet  still  there  lay  the  child  apparently  dead. 
I  picked  him  up  in  my  arms  and  sat  down  in  the 
mud  with  him,  still,  as  Noel  declares,  talking  aloud. 
Oh,  Carolina,  I  never  shall  forget  the  sight  of  his 
little  hands!  So  dirty,  but  so  little!  And  his  little 
limp  body,  —  I  feel  as  if  I  had  it  in  my  lap  still. 
The  crowd  kept  getting  bigger,  and  some  policemen 
came,  and  suddenly,  with  a  scream  I  never  can  for 
get  even  in  my  dreams,  the  child's  mother  rushed 
up.  She  raised  her  fist  to  strike  me  in  the  face,  and 
1  thought  I  was  done  for,  when  suddenly  the  child's 
eyes  opened,  and  something  made  me  say :  '  Here 
is  your  baby,  little  woman.  He  is  not  hurt  at  all ! ' 
She  fairly  snatched  him  from  me  and  began  to  feel 
him  all  over,  but  she  could  find  no  broken  bones. 
She  was  crying  and  laughing  and  kissing  him,  and 
I  still  kept  telling  her  that  he  was  unhurt.  Just 
then  the  police  got  through  with  Noel,  and  he  in 
sisted  on  putting  mother  and  child  and  a  policeman 
in  the  tonneau  and  taking  them  to  the  nearest  hos 
pital  to  have  the  child  examined.  We  did  so,  and, 
if  you  will  believe  it,  there  wasn't  a  scratch  on  h1'""1. 


276  CAROLINA  LEE 

He  either  fainted  from  fright  or  we  stunned  him, 
the  doctor  said. 

"  Two  of  the  surgeons  came  out  and  examined 
the  machine,  and  they  found  that  there  is  only  a 
foot  of  space  between  the  lowest  part  of  the  car 
and  the  ground. 

"  *  It  is  the  most  miraculous  escape  I  ever  saw/ 
said  one  of  them,  '  to  run  over  a  five-year-old  boy 
and  not  even  scratch  him.  To  make  the  story  quite 
complete  you  ought  to  claim  to  be  Christian  Scien 
tists.  That  is  the  sort  of  game  they  always  play 
on  a  credulous  public.' 

"  '  We  are  both  Christian  Scientists,'  said  Noel, 
in  his  most  polite  manner,  *  and  I  am  deeply  im 
pressed  with  your  involuntary  tribute  to  its  efficacy 
in  case  of  accident.' 

"  Between  you  and  me,  I  don't  believe  that  doctor 
got  his  mouth  together  again  without  help. 

"  Well,  we  had  the  greatest  time  when  we  got 
back.  First,  we  took  every  child  on  the  scene  — 
and  I  believe  there  must  have  been  a  hundred  — 
to  an  ice-cream  saloon  and  treated  them.  And 
while  they  were  waiting  their  turns,  Noel  filled  the 
White  Moth  with  them  and  gave  them  a  ride.  I 
never  had  so  much  fun  in  my  life.  I  went  home 
with  the  mother,  with  a  quart  of  ice-cream  in  each 
hand,  and  got  her  to  tell  me  the  story  of  her  life. 
Poor  soul!  She  has  nine  children,  but  she  loves 


CAROLINA  LEE  277 

each  one  as  if  it  were  her  all.  Noel  and  I  are  both 
going  to  do  something  for  that  child.  His  name 
is  Dewey  Dolan. 

"  When  it  was  all  over,  and  we  were  sneaking 
along  back  streets  to  get  home  without  being  seen, 
for  we  were  both  sights,  and  the  Moth  will  have 
to  be  done  over,  I  began  to  think  of  the  way  I  had 
acted,  and  I  have  made  Noel  promise  never  to  take 
me  out  again  unless  I  have  my  \  Amity ville  tag  on, 
so  that,  if  I  go  crazy  out  loud  again,  they  will  know 
where  I  have  escaped  from. 

"  But  Noel,  dear  old  thing,  confessed  that  he 
was  declaring  the  truth  no  less,  only  in  a  quieter 
way,  and  we  both  firmly  believe  that  our  little 
knowledge  of  Science  and  our  understanding,  in 
complete  though  it  is,  are  what  turned  that  calamity 
into  a  blessing,  for  a  blessing  I  am  determined  to 
crown  it. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  my  idea  ?  You  know 
how  I  have  always  been  carried  away  over  children, 

—  how   their   sufferings   and   deaths   have   almost 
turned  me  into  an  infidel,  —  how  the  carelessness 
of  parents  and  nurses  has  almost  driven  me  insane, 

—  well,  if  they  can  be  protected  by  Christian  Sci 
ence  thought  and  healed  by  mind,  why  not  hasten 
the  day  by  establishing  a  Christian  Science  kinder 
garten,  and,  if  it  succeeds,  by  a  series  of  them? 
There  must  be  plenty  of  kindergartners  among  Sci- 


2jS  CAROLINA  LEE 

entists  who  would  welcome  a  combination  of  their 
work,  and  in  the  crowded  tenement  districts  it 
would-be  a  boon.  But,  oh,  how  carefully  we  must 
go,  for  the  poor  will  only  allow  themselves  to  be 
helped  in  their  own  blind  way.  Tell  me  if  you 
think  there  is  any  hope  for  the  philanthropic  end 
of  it.  I  am  going  to  open  one  for  the  children  of 
ready-made  Scientists  in  my  own  house,  —  you 
know  I  studied  kindergartning,  and  I  have  ten 
already  promised.  I  shall  have  no  trouble  about 
assistants  for  my  Fifth  Avenue  school.  But  the 
other  place  is  the  one  my  heart  is  in.  Tell  me  what 
you  think  of  that. 

"  Rosemary  is  coming  back  here  to  live.  Her 
husband  is  a  Christian  Scientist,  and  has  gone  into 
business  in  New  York,  so  I  know  she  will  help  me, 
but,  oh,  Carolina,  you  will  never  know  how  I  miss 
you!  New  York  is  not  the  same  place  since  you 
left  it.  You  have  such  a  way  of  dominating  every 
spot  you  are  in  by  your  own  personality.  Does 
this  hot  air  sound  ; natural  from  Kate  Howard? 

"  I  am  crazy  —  fairly  daffy  —  over  your  success 
in  the  turpentine,  and  daddy  goes  around  swelling 
out  his  chest  and  strutting  like  a  turkey  gobbler. 
Why,  Carolina,  do  you  realize  that  you  will  not  only 
make  yourself  rich  and  anybody  you  choose  to  let 
into  the  game,  but  that  you  will  be  opening  up  by 
force,  so  to  speak,  with  your  Educational  Turpen- 


CAROLINA  LEE  279 

tine  Corner,  an  industry  which  will  revolutionize 
the  entire  turpentine  pine  country?  It  is  a  big 
project,  my  dear,  to  have  emanated  from  the  brain 
of  a  woman.  But,  oh,  won't  the  papers  fairly  eat 
you  raw! 

"  I  will  attend  to  all  the  commissions  you  sent 
and  bring  the  stuff  down  in  the  car.  A  good  many 
of  us  want  newer  and  finer  editions  of  '  Science 
and  Health/  and,  if  you  utterly  refuse  to  make 
presents  of  them  for  the  good  of  the  cause,  we  will 
sell  our  old  books  at  whatever  you  think  your 
friends  can  afford  to  pay.  I  agree  with  you  that 
it  is  better  to  make  them  pay  something  for  them. 

"  Rawlins,  our  butler,  and  two  of  the  footmen 
go  regularly  to  the  Christian  Science  church,  and 
Rawlins  has  been  healed  of  intemperance  through 
Mrs.  Goddard's  butler.  Perkins  says  he  owes  his 
conversion  to  the  day  Gladys  Yancey  walked  across 
the  floor  for  Noel's  doll.  So  you  see  we  all  had 
a  hand  in  the  work  you  started,  and  a  little  leaven 
is  leavening  the  whole  lump. 

"  Oh,  Carolina,  you  know  how  discontented  and 
fractious  I  used  to  be  ?  Well,  it  is  all  gone,  —  all 
the  fear,  the  dread  of  the  unknown,  the  unhappi- 
ness,  and  the  temper,  and  I  am  happy  for  the  first 
time  in  my  life! 

"  But  now  good-bye,  my  dearest  friend.  I  am 
bringing  some  dandy  glad  rags  with  which  to  aston- 


280  CAROLINA  LEE 

ish  the  natives.  Tell  Peachie  that  I  go  to  every 
sale  I  hear  of,  and  that  I  am  bringing  her  and 
Flower  some  of  the  dearest  little  inexpensive  rem 
nants  they  ever  saw.  Bless  those  girls!  It  sorta 
makes  my  old  heart  ache  to  think  they  haven't  the 
clothes  they  need  to  set  off  their  good  looks. 

"  Again  good-bye.  Best  love  to  Cousin  Lois  and 
yourself  from  all  of  us.  And  I  am  as  ever  your 
slave.  KATE." 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

THE    FEAR 

CAROLINA  had  not  been  a  week  among  her  kins 
men  before  they  began  to  warn  her  of  the  terror 
of  the  South.  They  definitely  forbade  her  ever 
riding  alone,  except  in  broad  daylight  along  the 
public  highway,  and  even  then  some  white  man 
of  her  acquaintance  generally  made  it  his  business 
to  be  called  in  whatever  direction  she  happened  to 
be  going. 

All  this  Carolina  saw  and  felt  and  appreciated, 
but  with  the  natural  fearlessness  of  her  character 
and  the  total  want  of  comprehension  which  women 
seem  to  feel  who  have  never  come  into  contact  with 
this  universal  dread  of  all  Southern  States,  Caro 
lina  often  forgot  her  warnings,  and  tempted  oppor 
tunity  by  striking  off  the  highway  into  the  pine 
woods  to  inspect  her  turpentine  camps. 

Once  Moultrie  La  Grange  found  her  unaccom 
panied  by  any  white  man,  talking  to  a  burly  negro 
in  a  camp,  and  when  he  had  taken  her  away  and 
they  had  gained  the  road  where  she  could  see  dis 
tinctly,  she  found  him  white  and  shaking.  Know- 

281 


282  CAROLINA  LEE 

ing  his  physical  courage,  this  exhibition  of  fear 
startled  her,  and  for  a  few  weeks  she  was  more 
cautious. 

Then  one  afternoon  she  mounted  Scintilla  and 
rode  into  Enterprise  for  the  mail.  She  received 
the  letter  from  Kate  which  has  just  been  quoted 
and  read  it  as  she  rode  along.  It  contained  so  much 
food  for  thought  that  Carolina  forgot  everything 
else,  until,  looking  up,  she  found  that  she  was  just 
opposite  the  new  terrapin  crawl  she  was  having 
prepared  under  Moultrie's  direction.  Without 
thinking,  she  struck  into  the  woods  and  threaded 
her  way  among  the  giant  pine-trees  toward  the 
coast. 

It  was  virgin  forest  and  on  her  own  land,  a  tract 
she  intended  leasing  to  some  orchard  turpentine  fac 
tors  in  Jacksonville.  It  was  twilight  in  the  forest, 
but  Carolina  rode  forward  fearlessly,  glancing 
sharply  at  the  trees  for  signs  of  their  having  been 
boxed  by  thieving  negroes. 

Suddenly  she  saw  a  boxed  tree,  and,  springing 
down,  she  drew  Scintilla's  bridle  over  her  arm  and 
stooped  to  examine  the  suspected  tree.  As  she  was 
bending  down,  Scintilla  jerked  her  head,  and  the 
bridle  slipped  from  Carolina's  arm.  She  sprang 
to  her  feet,  but,  with  a  nicker  of  delight,  the  hand 
some  horse  kicked  up  her  heels  and  pranced  away 


CAROLINA  LEE  283 

from  her,  looking  for  all  the  world  like  a  child  ready 
for  a  romp. 

So  free  from  fear  she  was  that  Carolina  laughed 
aloud,  but  ;the  laugh  froze  on  her  lips,  for,  without 
turning  her  head,  she  could  see,  crouching  down 
and  creeping  toward  her,  the  huge  form  of  a  negro 
man,  whose  half-open  mouth  and  half-closed  eyes, 
as  he  stole  noiselessly  closer  and  closer,  instantly 
told  her  of  her  dire  peril. 

The  girl's  whole  body  became  rigid  with  terror, 

—  a  terror  so  intense  and  so  unspeakable  that  she 
realized  how  it  was  that  women  can  go  mad  from 
the  effect  of  it.    In  a  moment,  every  warning,  every 
hint,  every  word  that  she  had  heard  on  the  subject 
flashed  through  her  brain  with  lightning  quickness. 
An  intense  silence  reigned  in  the  forest,  broken  only 
by  Scintilla's  cropping  a  stray  tuft  of  spring  grass 
and  the  footsteps  of  the  black  creeping  nearer  to 
his  white  prey. 

Carolina  never  thought  of  screaming.  No  white 
man  was  within  a  mile  of  her.  Oh,  for  Moultrie, 

—  Moultrie,  who  had  saved  her  once  before !     A 
sick  feeling  came  over  her  —  things  began  to  swim 
before  her  eyes  —  she  swayed  —  and  at  ,the  sight 
of  her  weakness  the  negro  stood  upright. 

He  was  no  longer  a  crawling  horror.  He  was 
a  man,  and  her  God  was  at  hand! 

The  girl  smote  her  hands  together.     "  His  truth 


284  CAROLINA  LEE 

shall  be  thy  shield !  "  "  God  is  my  all !  "  "  He  is 
my  rock  and  my  fortress !  "  "  Thou  shalt  call  upon 
me  and  I  will  answer !  "  "  Fear  not,  for  I  am  with 
thee !  "  Detached  sentences,  phrases,  half -sentences 
fell  from  her  lips  in  frozen  whispers.  But  the  man 
stood  still.  He  was  no  longer  crawling  toward  her. 
And  they  stood  looking  at  each  other.  He  had 
queer  eyes,  —  one  blue  and  one  black  —  where  had 
she  heard  of  such  eyes  —  where  had  she  seen  this 
very  man? 

"'Polyte!"  she  cried. 

Instantly  the  white  woman  got  the  ascendency 
over  the  black  blood  of  the  man. 

"  'Polyte,  do  you  know  who  you  are?  You  are 
the  son  of  my  father's  nurse!  Your  mother  was 
my  father's  black  mammy !  " 

The  assurance,  even  the  confidence,  left  the  man's 
manner.  His  shoulders  drooped  perceptibly.  He 
took  a  backward  step.  Surely  she  did  not  know 
what  he  was  or  she  would  not  speak  to  him  except 
to  scream  for  help. 

"  Do  you  know  who  I  am  ?  " 

"  Yas,  missis." 

"  You  don't  know  how  you  frightened  me,  until 
I  saw  who  you  were.  Then  I  knew  that  you  would 
catch  Scintilla  for  me.  Mr.  Moultrie  has  told  me 
what  a  way  you  have  with  animals." 

In  an  instant  the  man  was  her  servant,  the  son 


CAROLINA  LEE  285 

of  her  grandfather's  slave.  His  fear  of  detection 
and  punishment  left  him,  and  he  was  quick  enough 
to  know  that  her  supposed  ignorance  of  his  inten 
tions  had  saved  him  from  a  horrible  death.  He 
was  a  bad  negro  partly  because  he  was  so  intelli 
gent. 

"  I'll  git  her  for  you.     Jes'  watch  me !  " 

He  turned  eagerly  toward  the  horse  and  snapped 
his  ringers.  Scintilla  raised  her  head  and  began 
to  step  gingerly  toward  the  man.  'Polyte's  power 
over  animals  may  have  been  hypnotism,  but  to 
Carolina  it  was  like  magic  to  see  Scintilla's  bridle 
in  'Polyte's  hand.  The  man  proudly  led  the  mare 
to  her. 

"  Help  me  to  mount,"  said  Carolina,  her  shaking 
knees  threatening  every  minute  to  give  way  beneath 
her.  "  No,  hold  your  hand,  and  when  I  put  my 
foot  in  it,  you  lift  me.  There !  " 

Once  on  her  horse's  back,  Carolina  felt  her  heart 
begin  to  beat  with  less  noise.  It  seemed  as  if  he 
could  see  how  it  pounded  against  her  side. 

"  Tolyte,"  she  said,  "  you  are  what  people  call 
a  bad  man.  You  have  been  bleeding  my  trees,  and 
I  don't  know  what  all.  Why  don't  you  behave?" 

The  man  kicked  at  a  tuft  of  moss. 

"  Nobody  won't  hire  me,  Miss  Calline.  Ise  done 
been  in  de  chain-gang  too  often.  Nobody  won' 
trus'  me !  " 


286  CAROLINA  LEE 

"  Well,  if  I  will  trust  you,  for  the  sake  of  your 
dead  mother,  will  you  be  good  and  faithful  to  me?  " 

The  man's  face  lighted  up.  He  took  a  step 
toward  her. 

"  Will  I?  Miss  Calline,  on'y  jes'  try  me!  I  kin 
feo  anyt'in' !  " 

"  I  believe  you.  Well,  I'm  going  to  try  you.  I 
want  you  to  be  my  —  well,  my  body-servant.  To 
go  everywhere  I  go  and  take  care  of  me  —  so  —  I 
—  won't  —  be  —  frightened  —  again.  Will  you  ?  " 

The  man's  eyes  wavered  in  momentary  terror. 
But  he  kept  his  head. 

"On'y  jes'  try  me!" 

"  I'm  going  to.  But  you  must  have  a  horse  to 
ride.  Look  out  for  a  good  one,  and  one  for  me, 
too.  You  must  get  me,  'Polyte,  the  best  saddle- 
horse  in  South  Carolina !  " 

"  Yas'm.  I'll  do  my  bes'.  I  kin  git  you  a 
hawse." 

"  I'll  pay  you  good  wages,  'Polyte.  But  you 
mustn't  drink.  If  a  lady  hires  you,  you  can  never 
get  drunk,  you  know." 

"  I'll  tek  de  pledge." 

"  Take  any  pledge  that  you  can  keep,"  said  Caro 
lina.  She  gathered  up  the  reins  and  turned  her 
horse.  The  man  took  a  step  nearer. 

"Well,  'Polyte?" 

"Miss  Calline  —  " 


CAROLINA  LEE  287 

"Well?" 

"  Nobody  ain't  ever  trusted  me  befo' !  " 

"Well?" 

"  Not  even  my  ole  mammy.  She  voodooed  me. 
She  said  I  brought  her  bad  luck,  an'  everybody  tuk 
up  de  bad  word  agin  me  —  " 

"Well?" 

"  Even  when  I  was  a  child,  dey  laid  ever'thin'  awn 
to  me." 

"  I  know." 

"  Well,  you  say  '  'Polyte,  I  trus'  you.  You  tek 
care  ob  me.' ' 

"  Yes,  that  is  what  I  say." 

"  Well,  Miss  Calline,  you  gwine  be  teken  cah 
ob!" 

"  I  am  sure  of  it.     Good-bye,  'Polyte." 

As  she  rode  away,  Carolina's  shoulders  drooped 
until  she  seemed  fairly  to  shrink  in  her  saddle. 

"  If  he  had  touched  me  —  oh,  my  God!  —  if  he 
had  touched  me,  I  would  have  killed  myself !  " 

She  bowed  her  face  in  her  hands,  and  the  bitter 
tears  streamed  through  her  fingers. 

She  strove  to  think  —  to  quiet  herself  —  no  one 
must  know.  Suddenly  she  heard  the  hoof -beats  of 
a  horse  behind  her.  She  dashed  away  her  tears 
and  straightened  herself  in  her  saddle.  If  any 
white  man  suspected  the  cause  of  her  agitation,  a 
human  life  —  the  life  of  some  black  man  —  would 


288  CAROLINA  LEE 

pay  the  forfeit.  'Polyte's  life  was  in  her  keeping. 
She  began  to  think  of  him  as  her  property,  —  a 
human  soul  given  into  her  power  until  it  could  be 
saved  through  her  ministrations.  God  help  him 
to  have  got  away!  God  protect  him!  Black  or 
white,  he  was  God's  child !  The  tear-stained  face 
of  a  white  woman,  —  a  woman  riding  alone  ? 

Scintilla  had  never  felt  a  spur  before  in  her  life. 
Carolina  knew  it  by  her  snort  of  fright  and  sur 
prise.  But  she  needed  her  best  speed  to  draw  away 
from  the  avenging  white  man  on  her  track. 

In  her  stall  that  night,  Scintilla  knew  that  there 
was  a  sharp-toothed  animal  which  had  bitten  her 
twice  in  one  short  ride.  She  had  tried  to  run  away 
from  it,  but  it  was  fastened  to  a  woman's  heel. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

MOULTRIE 

IT  was  the  last  of  March.  Spring,  which  comes 
so  early  in  the  South,  was  already  in  the  fulfilment 
of  her  promise,  and  no  lovelier  spot  could  be  found 
than  that  portion  of  South  Carolina  which  contains 
the  estates  of  Guildford,  Sunnymede,  and  Whitehall. 

Carolina,  although  working  hard  all  of  every  day 
and  often  far  into  some  nights,  was  happier  than 
she  had  ever  been  in  her  life.  She  was  free  from 
the  persecutions  of  Colonel  Yancey  at  last.  Little 
Gladys  was  now  perfectly  healed  and  as  active  as 
other  children.  Moultrie  was  proving  a  most  eager 
and  progressive  student  of  Christian  Science,  and, 
while  most  of  his  narrowness  and  astonishing  igno 
rance  was  still  painfully  in  evidence  at  times  when 
discussions  of  import  took  place,  yet  Carolina  held 
faithfully  to  the  thought  that  perfect  harmony  must 
result  in  time,  and  that  such  a  fine  mind  as  he  nat 
urally  possessed  must  yield  to  the  enlightenment 
which  most  men  inherit.  Instead  of  this,  however, 
Moultrie  La  Grange  inherited  prejudices  which  had 
dwarfed  and  hampered  his  mental  and  spiritual  ad- 

289 


290  CAROLINA  LEE 

vancement,  and  which  mere  friends  overlooked. 
But  to  Carolina,  who  loved  him,  they  were  heart 
breaking.  It  was  as  impossible  to  discuss  history 
with  most  of  her  relatives  as  to  expect  them  to  speak 
Chinese.  In  the  country  schools  they  used  a  his 
tory  which  described  the  Civil  War  as  a  series  of 
rebel  victories,  and  the  outcome  of  the  war  was 
not  accounted  for  in  any  way.  Carolina,  in  reading 
the  book  at  Moultrie's  request,  wondered  if  the 
pupils,  after  a  study  of  its  facts,  did  not  question 
the  sanity  of  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee  for  surrendering 
a  victorious  and  a  gloriously  successful  army  to  a 
conquered  and  outnumbered  foe,  simply  because 
General  Grant  asked  him  to.  When  she  handed  the 
history  back  to  Moultrie,  Carolina  said,  sadly: 

"  I  wonder  what  you  will  say  when  I  tell  you  that 
my  dear  father,  who  was  as  loyal  a  Southerner  as 
ever  lived,  and  who  entered  the  Confederate  army 
when  he  was  only  sixteen  years  old,  was  engaged 
at  the  time  of  his  death  in  an  elaborate  life  of  Abra 
ham  Lincoln,  whom  he  regarded  as  the  best  friend 
the  South  ever  had,  and  the  noblest  patriot  Amer 
ica  ever  produced !  " 

The  young  man's  face  flushed  with  feeling,  but 
he  was  too  wise  to  express  his  bitter  disagreement 
with  Carolina's  views. 

But  she  knew  how  he  felt  and  that,  unless  he 
deliberately  determined  to  open  his  mind  to  the 


CAROLINA  LEE  291 

truth  in  every  way,  that  she  never  could  bring  her 
self  to  marry  him,  and  thus  court  discord  in  her 
daily  life. 

He  did  the  best  he  could,  but  among  his  own 
people  he  passed  muster  as  an  unusually  fine  fellow,  ' 
well-educated  and  progressive.  It  was  only  when 
brought  into  contact  with  a  broad-minded,  cultured 
young  woman  like  Carolina  that  Moultrie's  intellect 
showed  its  limitations.  However,  the  fact  that  he 
was  proud  of  his  prejudices  was  the  only  alarming 
thing  about  the  whole  situation.  Carolina  saw  his 
possibilities.  She  recognized  his  courage;  she 
trusted  in  his  capacity  to  rouse  himself  from  his 
ignorance;  she  knew  that  he  would  some  day 
awaken  to  the  impression  he  made  upon  cultivated 
minds.  And  the  more  she  yielded  to  his  charm, 
to  his  chivalrous  care  of  her,  to  the  attraction  his 
almost  ideal  beauty  had  for  her,  the  more  she  was 
determined  to  save  him  in  spite  of  himself.  She 
knew  that  she  could  expect  no  help  from  his  family, 
who  idealized  him  just  as  he  was,  and  who  would 
have  regarded  an  intimation  that  even  a  Benjamin 
Franklin  would  have  found  him  crude,  as  sacrilege. 
Nor  could  relatives  or  friends  avail,  for  did  not  all 
in  his  little  community  think  as  he  did,  and  were 
not  prejudices  respected  ?  No,  she  realized  that  she 
must  save  him  unaided  and  alone.  Therefore,  when, 
in  a  burst  of  passion  which  nearly  swept  her  off 


292  CAROLINA  LEE 

her  feet  and  left  her  shaken  and  trembling,  he  asked 
her  to  marry  him,  she  took  her  courage  in  both 
hands  and  refused. 

He  stared  at  her  in  a  dismay  so  honest  and  un 
feigned  that  she  almost  smiled.  Then  his  face 
flushed,  and  he  said,  in  a  low,  hurt  tone: 

"  I  understand.  You  have  urged  me  to  believe 
that  Flower's  ancestry  was  not  the  disgraceful 
thing  I  suspect,  when  you  could  not  bring  your 
self  to  believe  it.  That  can  —  that  must  be  your 
only  reason,  for  you  love  me,  Carolina.  You  have 
shown  me  in  a  hundred  ways  that  you  liked  my 
care  of  you;  you  have  permitted  my  attentions, 
you  have  not  discouraged  my  honest,  ardent  love, 
which  every  one  has  been  a  witness  to.  You  do 
care  for  me!  You  cannot  deny  it." 

"  Moultrie,"  said  the  girl,  slowly,  "  I  do  not  wish 
to  deny  it.  I  never  said  I  did  not  love  you,  for  I 
love  you  more  dearly  than  you  know  or  than  you 
ever  will  know.  I  said  I  would  not  marry  you, 
but  not,  oh,  not  on  Flower's  account.  I  believe 
implicitly  in  all  I  have  said  of  her.  If  that  were 
all,  I  would  marry  you  to-morrow.  But  that  is 
not  the  reason." 

"Then  what  is?    Oh,  Carolina,  love,  love!" 

"  You  don't  know  me  at  all,  Moultrie,  or  you 
would  know  what  I  am  going  to  say." 


CAROLINA  LEE  293 

"  I  reckon  I  don't,  dear,  for  I  haven't  an  idea 
of  the  reason." 

"  Well,  it  is  because  we  never  could  be  happy 
together,  holding  such  different  ideals  and  such  dif 
ferent  codes  of  honour.  Colonel  Yancey  told  my 
father  in  London  that  he  would  find  the  South 
heart-breaking,  and  it  is." 

The  young  man  stared  into  her  lovely  face  in  a 
very  genuine  astonishment. 

"Our  codes  of  honour  different,  Carolina?"  he 
said.  "  Oh,  I  hope  not.  I  should  be  sorry  to  think 
that  your  code  of  honour  differed  from  mine." 

"  And,  dear  friend  —  " 

"  Don't  call  me  friend !  I  am  not  your  friend ! 
I  am  your  lover !  " 

"  No,  let  me  call  you  friend,  for  that  is  all  that 
I  can  call  you  at  present.  I  should  be  sorry  to  hold 
a  code  of  honour  no  higher  than  yours." 

The  slow,  dark  flush  of  pride  and  race  rose  in 
the  man's  fine  face.  Carolina  was  daring  to  say 
such  words  to  a  La  Grange.  But  Carolina  herself 
was  a  Lee. 

"  I  should  be  sorry,"  said  Carolina,  deliberately, 
not  waiting  for  his  reply,  "  to  be  so  narrow  that 
I  could  refuse  an  offer  to  improve  my  land,  denuded 
and  mortgaged  as  it  is,  —  an  offer  for  the  only 
rights  I  had  left  to  sell,  and  which  would  give  me 
plenty  of  money  to  enable  me  to  restore  the  home 


294  CAROLINA  LEE 

of  my  ancestors,  —  simply  because  the  syndicate 
furnishing  the  money  was  composed  of  Northern 
men,  thus,  for  a  senseless  prejudice,  compelling  my 
mother  and  sister  to  eke  out  their  income  by  sew 
ing  for  negroes! " 

Had  Carolina  struck  him  in  the  face,  he  could 
not  have  turned  a  whiter  countenance  upon  her 
than  he  did.  Twice  he  opened  his  lips  to  speak 
and  twice  closed  them  again  with  the  futile  words 
still  unspoken.  His  hands  were  clenched  at  his 
side,  his  whole  figure  rigid  with  outraged  pride. 
Yet  he  continued  to  look  his  accuser  in  the  face, 
and  Carolina  honoured  him  for  his  courage  even 
while  she  could  see  self-knowledge  dawn  and  humil 
iation  take  the  place  of  his  dethroned  pride.  The 
first  blow  had  been  struck  which  was  to  unmask 
his  pitiable  attitude,  —  the  attitude  of  the  typical 
young  Southerner  of  to-day,  proud  of  his  worn-out 
prejudices,  and  unaware  that  his  very  pride  in  them 
is  in  rags. 

Carolina  clasped  her  hands  to  hide  their  trem 
bling.  She  could  have  cried  out  in  pity  for  the 
suffering  in  the  face  of  the  man  she  loved,  but  she 
dared  not  speak  one  word  of  the  sympathy  her  heart 
ached  to  show,  for  fear  of  undoing  her  work. 
Blindly  she  steeled  herself  for  the  words  she  feared 
would  pour  forth.  Dully  she  wondered  if,  when 
they  came,  they  would  end  everything  between  them, 


CAROLINA  LEE  295 

and  preclude  any  possible  overtures  on  her  part 
when  the  leaven  should  have  worked.  But  the 
words,  bitter  or  otherwise,  did  not  come.  Still  he 
simply  stood  and  looked  at  her. 

Then,  with  a  gesture  both  graceful  and  dignified, 
he  bent  and  took  her  hand  and  kissed  it. 

"  I  understand,"  he  said,  simply,  and  Carolina, 
turning  away,  albeit  sick  at  heart,  felt  a  dawning 
thrill  of  pride  —  her  first  —  that  she  had  come  to 
love  this  man. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

THE   LIGHT   BREAKS 

ONE  afternoon,  a  few  days  later,  there  came 
an  hour  of  stifling  heat,  and  Carolina,  sitting  in 
her  little  cottage  room  with  "  Science  and  Health  " 
on  her  knees,  heard  the  rise  and  fall  of  voices  in 
earnest  discussion,  which  seemed  to  come  from  the 
back  porch.  When  she  appeared  at  the  door  to 
ascertain  who  it  was,  she  found  Aunt  Calla,  the 
cook  at  Whitehall,  and  Aunt  Tempy,  Flower's 
baby's  mammy,  in  animated  conversation  with  Rose 
Maud,  her  own  cook. 

"  Dar  she  is  now !  "  exclaimed  Calla.  "  Miss 
Calline,  I  was  jes'  awn  my  way  over  hyah  to  ax 
yoh  advice  as  to  what  I  shall  do  wid  dat  no  'count 
Lily  ob  mine,  when  erlong  come  Sis  Tempy  in  de 
Barnwells'  cah'yall,  sent  by  Miss  Flower  to  say 
will  you  please  come  over  to  see  de  baby  right  away, 
en  Sis  Tempy  done  fetch  me  wid  her." 

"Is  anything  wrong  wfth  the  baby?"  asked 
Carolina,  quickly. 

"  No'm !  no'm !  "  cried  Tempy.  "  Miss  Flowah 
296 


CAROLINA  LEE  297 

got  somepin'  mighty  fine  to  show  you.  Miss  Cal- 
lina,  de  lill  fellah  kin  see! " 

"  Oh,  Tempy,  how  glad  I  am  to  hear  it! " 

"  Well'm,  I  reckon  you  is  de  one  what  otto  hyah 
it  fust,"  said  the  old  woman,  with  a  shrewd  glance. 

"  Why,  what  do  you  mean?  "  asked  Carolina. 

The  three  women  settled  themselves  with  such  an 
air  of  having  come  to  the  point  that  Carolina  felt 
reasonably  sure  that  they  had  been  discussing  the 
affair,  and  that  further  concealment  was  no  longer 
of  any  avail.  She  was  surprised  to  see  that,  in 
stead  of  the  hostility  she  had  feared,  each  old  woman 
had  the  appearance  of  eager  curiosity  if  not  of  real 
interest. 

"  I  means,  Miss  Callina,  dat  I  believes  —  we  all 
believes  —  dat  you  done  kunjered  "  (conjured)  "  de 
chile  en  kyored  him,"  said  Calla. 

"  I  ain't  a-saying  dat,"  put  in  Tempy.  "  I  ain't 
a-saying  but  what  you  is  raised  de  spell  what  de 
voodoo  done  put  awn  de  chile." 

"  En  I  tells  um,  Miss  Callina,"  ventured  Rose 
Maud,  Carolina's  own  cook,  "  dat  hit's  yoh  new 
religion  what  done  it,  en  I  tole  em  I  believed  dat 
you  is  de  Lawd  Jesus  come  down  to  yearth  de  secon' 
time,  wid  power  to  heal  de  sick,  to  cast  out  debbils, 
en  to  raise  de  dead." 

"  Rose  Maud,  Jesus  was  a  man,  and  you  know 
that  He  will  never  take  the  form  of  a  woman,"  said 


298  CAROLINA  LEE 

Carolina,  "  so  don't  ever  say  such  a  foolish  thing 
again.  But  He  gave  that  power  to  His  disciples, 
and  this  new  religion  of  mine  you  are  talking 
about  gives  that  same  power  both  to  men  and 
women." 

"  Miss  Callina,"  cried  Tempy  and  Calla  at  the 
same  time,  "  has  you  got  dat  power  ?  " 

"  Ask  Rose  Maud,"  said  Carolina. 

"  I  done  tole  'em,  Miss  Callina,"  cried  Rose 
Maud.  "  But  dey  is  bofe  doubtin'  Thomases.  Dey 
won't  believe  until  dey  sees." 

"  Miss  Callina,"  pleaded  Calla,  "  I  cain't  believe 
jis'  caze  I  wants  tuh  so  bad.  Ef  you  kin  mek  me 
believe,  I  would  fall  down  awn  my  face  wid  joy.  I 
ain't  never  been  satisfied  wid  no  religion.  Sis 
Tempy  will  tell  you.  Ise  done  jined  de  chutch  en 
fell  from  grace  mo'  times  den  I  kin  count.  But, 
missy,  even  niggers  want  a  trufe  dat  dey  kin  cling 
tuh!" 

"  Dat's  a  fack,  Miss  Callina !  "  broke  in  Aunt 
Tempy.  "  En  ef  you  will  jis'  put  awn  yoh  hat  en 
go  wid  us  in  de  Barnwells'  cah'yall,  en  'splain  t'ings 
to  us  lake  Jesus  done  when  He  tuk  de  walk  to 
Emyus  "  (Emmaus),  "  you  will  be  talkin'  to  thirsty 
sinners  what  are  des  a-begging  of  you  fur  de  water 
ob  life!" 

Carolina  remembered  the  great  number  of  intel 
ligent  coloured  faces  which  were  scattered  through 


CAROLINA  LEE  299 

the  congregation's  of  the  beautiful  white  marble 
church,  with  its  splendour  and  glory  of  stained 
glass,  in  New  York,  and  she  wondered  if  here,  in 
the  pleadings  of  these  three  fat  old  coloured  women 
in  the  pine  forest  of  South  Carolina  lay  the  answer 
to  the  great  and  ever  burning  question  of  the  white 
man's  burden.  As  she  debated  swiftly,  her  heart 
leaped  to  the  task.  It  was  not  for  her  to  refuse 
to  spread  the  truth  when  it  was  so  humbly  and 
earnestly  desired. 

"  Come  then,"  she  said,  "  ask  me  questions,  and 
I  will  tell  you  the  answers  that  my  new  religion- 
teaches.  You  may  come,  too,  Rose  Maud." 

The  Barnwells'  carryall  went  slowly  out  through 
the  great  avenue  of  live-oaks  from  Carolina's  little 
cottage  at  Guildford  into  the  "  big  road "  which 
led  to  Sunnymede.  But  no  one  thought  of  the  in 
congruity  of  the  three  old  coloured  women  and 
Jake,  letting  the  horses  drive  themselves,  while  he 
listened  with  pathetic  eagerness  to  the  clear,  earnest 
tones  of  the  white  young  lady,  who  simply  and  sin 
cerely  answered  the  questions  all  four  asked  of  her 
with  such  painful  anxiety  and  eager  understand 
ing. 

Meanwhile  the  storm,  which  the  intense  heat 
presaged,  gathered,  and  they  hurried  the  horses  in 
<order  to  reach  Sunnymede  before  it  broke. 

"  Dat's  all  I  ask,"  cried  Aunt  Tempy.     "  I  don* 


300  CAROLINA  LEE 

need  to  ax  no  mo'  questions.  Miss  Callina  done 
fixed  t'ings  for  old  Tempy." 

"  I  allus  knowed  dat  I  was  a  worshipper  ob  de 
unknown  God,"  cried  Calla.  "  Ef  I  had  'a'  knowed 
de  right  One,  does  y'all  reckon  He  would  'a'  let 
me  get  away?  No,  suh!  De  Lawd  hoi's  awn  tuh 
His  own!" 

The  storm  broke  just  as  they  reached  Flower's 
little  cabin  in  the  dreary  stump-filled  waste  which 
had  once  been  the  handsome  estate  of  the  La 
Granges.  Flower  met  them  at  the  door  and  wel 
comed  them  -in. 

"  Hurry,  Jake,  and  get  the  horses  safe  before 
the  rain  comes.  Aunt  Tempy,  take  Calla  and  Rose 
Maud  to  the  kitchen  and  give  them  some  sassafras 
tea.  Oh,  Cousin  Carolina,  dearest,  did  Tempy  tell 
you?  Oh,  the  blessed,  blessed  news!  For  two 
nights  now,  the  lamb  has  turned  over  in  his  crib 
because  the  light  hurt  his  eyes.  I  didn't  send  for 
you  the  first  time  because  I  wanted  to  be  sure.  I 
was  reading  the  fourteenth  of  John,  and  when  I 
came  to  the  verse,  '  And  if  ye  shall  ask  anything 
in  my  name,  I  will  do  it,'  I  just  threw  the  Bible 
down  and  fell  on  my  face  on  the  floor  and  begged 
God  for  my  baby's  eyesight.  And,  when  I  looked, 
he  had  turned  over.  Oh,  Cousin  Carol,  Cousin 
Carol,  I  think  I  shall  go  mad  with  joy!  " 

"  Let  me  see  him,"  cried  Carolina,  rushing  past 


CAROLINA  LEE  301 

Flower  and  snatching  up  the  baby.  "  Oh,  yes,  dear 
est,  I  can  see  even  a  different  expression  in  his  eyes. 
And  see  how  he  blinks  in  the  light!  Flower,  your 
baby  is  healed !  " 

"  I  know  it,"  said  Flower,  reverently.  "  And  I 
shall  thank  God  for  it  on  my  knees  every  day  of 
my  life." 

A  terrific  flash  of  lightning  at  that  moment  almost 
blinded  them.  It  was  followed  instantaneously  by 
a  clap  of  thunder  which  nearly  rent  the  cabin  in 
twain.  Flower  immediately  seized  her  baby,  with  a 
face  made  ashen  by  fear,  and  looking  apprehensively 
at  windows  and  doors,  she  whispered : 

"  The  voodoo !  Watch  for  her !  She  always 
comes  in  a  thunder-storm !  " 

At  the  same  time  the  three  old  women,  with  Jake, 
and  Flower's  black  cook,  old  Eloise  Lu,  stumbled 
into  the  room,  crying: 

"  Foh  de  Lawd's  sake,  Miss  Flower,  honey,  let 
us  in  hyah !  De  Day  of  Judgment  sho  has  come !  " 

"  Nonsense !  "  cried  Carolina,  with  a  sternness 
none  of  them  had  ever  suspected  her  of  possessing. 
"  For  shame,  you  Tempy  and  Rose  Maud  and 
Calla !  Where  is  your  new  religion  ?  Where  is  your 
understanding  of  the  truth?  Is  God  going  to  pun 
ish  you  for  coming  to  Him  as  you  just  told  me 
you  had  come?  Oh,  faithless  disciples!  Now  see 
if  7  am  afraid  of  a  little  thunder  and  lightning !  " 


302  CAROLINA  LEE 

They  straightened  up  under  her  words,  and,  with 
rapidly  clearing  faces,  they  watched  her  go  toward 
the  open  door.  The  rain  was  coming  straight  down 
with  a  terrific  tropical  downpour,  and,  as  Carolina 
stepped  suddenly  to  the  open  door,  she  saw  the  same 
figure  she  had  seen  before,  in  the  act  of  leaving  a 
little  clump  of  pine-trees  to  come  nearer  to  the  cabin. 
The  figure  spied  Carolina  at  the  same  time,  and, 
lifting  a  hand,  beckoned  to  the  girl.  Without  a 
thought  of  fear,  but  with  rather  a  wild  questioning 
hope  in  her  heart,  Carolina,  to  the  amazement  of 
the  cabin  inmates,  and  later  on  no  less  to  her  own, 
stepped  out  into  the  pouring  rain  and  ran  toward 
the  shelter  of  the  trees. 

They  all  crowded  into  the  doorway  to  see  her 
go,  and,  when  they  recognized  the  other  figure,  they 
were  speechless  with  awe. 

Miss  Carolina  had  deliberately  gone  to  meet  the 
voodoo  and  lift  the  curse!  Then  she  was  indeed 
a  chosen  one  of  God!  , 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

IN    THE    VOODOO'S    CAVE 

As  Carolina  felt  the  rain  drenching  her  to  the 
skin,  the  thought  came  to  her,  "  This  is  the  first 
time  in  all  my  life  that  I  ever  was  thoroughly  wet 
with  rain,  yet  to  how  many  of  the  less  favoured 
ones  of  earth  this  must  be  no  unusual  occurrence. 
How  sheltered  my  life  has  been !  " 

And  the  thought  of  God's  protection  went  with 
her  as  she  approached  the  motionless  figure  under 
the  pines. 

At  first  Carolina  took  the  woman  to  be  a  quad 
roon,  but,  on  a  nearer  view,  she  saw  that  none  of 
the  features  was  African.  Rather  the  high  cheek 
bones  and  sombre  eyes  suggested  the  Indian. 

The  woman  held  out  her  hand,  and,  as  Carolina 
yielded  hers,  the  woman  said,  in  a  voice  whose  tones 
vibrated  with  a  resemblance  to  Flower's : 

"  You  must  come  with  me.  You  will  not  be 
afraid.  You  are  a  Lee.  I  have  been  waiting  a  long, 
long  time  to  get  speech  with  you,  but  your  wet 
clothes  must  be  dried.  Will  you  follow  me?" 

"  Willingly,"  said  Carolina,  gently. 
3°3 


304  CAROLINA  LEE 

The  woman  did  not  smile,  but  her  face  lighted. 

"  You  will  not  be  sorry,"  she  said,  tersely.  Then 
she  turned  and  led  the  way. 

The  rain  still  came  down  in  torrents,  but,  as  Caro 
lina  was  already  wet  through,  she  thoroughly  en 
joyed  the  novel  sensation.  She  remembered  how 
often,  as  a  child,  she  had  begged  to  be  allowed  to 
go  out  and  get  sopping  wet  —  just  once !  —  and  had 
been  denied. 

Suddenly  the  woman  paused. 

"  Do  you  know  where  we  are?  "  she  said. 

Carolina  looked  around,  but  could  see  no  possible 
place  of  concealment.  The  ground  was  flat  and 
somewhat  rocky.  The  river  made  a  sudden  bend 
here,  and  in  this  clearing  lay  huge  pieces  of  rock 
half-embedded  in  the  soil.  The  timber  had  been 
cut,  and  now  a  second  growth  of  scrubby  trees  had 
grown  up,  hedging  the  spot  in  a  thicket  of  under 
brush. 

"  No,"  said  Carolina.    "  I  never  was  here  before." 

"  But  you  will  come  many  times  again,"  said  the 
woman.  "  Look !  " 

She  knelt  in  the  sand  and  scratched  away  with 
both  hands  at  the  base  of  a  great  rock,  until  she 
came  to  its  edge.  Then  with  one  hand  she  pushed, 
and  the  great  boulder  was  balanced  so  neatly  on  its 
fellow  that  it  slid  back,  revealing  a  natural  cave. 

The  cool,  underground  air  came  in  a  wave  to 


CAROLINA  LEE  305 

Carolina's  nostrils,  laden  with  mystery.  Only  one 
moment  she  hesitated. 

"  You  are  sure  we  can  get  out?  "  she  said. 

"  I  am  sure.  From  where  I  stand  I  can  see 
through  this  underground  passage  the  sail  of  a  ship 
on  the  ocean.  But  this  rock  will  not  slip.  Watch 
me." 

She  was  already  in  the  cave,  and  she  reached  out, 
and,  with  apparently  little  effort,  pulled  the  boulder 
into  place,  closing  herself  in.  Carolina  put  her  hand 
under  the  rock  and  felt  its  perfect  balance  give.  She 
herself  opened  the  cave  again. 

"  I  will  come,"  said  Carolina.  "  Have  you  a 
light?" 

Never  could  she  forget  the  hour  which  followed. 
She  sat  in  this  cavern,  wrapped  in  an  Indian  blan 
ket,  watching  her  thin  clothes  dry  before  the  fire 
the  woman  had  kindled  and  listening  to  the  follow 
ing  story : 

"  I  have  watched  you,"  said  the  Indian,  "  ever 
since  you  came,  and  when  I  found  that  you  were 
the  one  to  cause  my  daughter  to  take  her  rightful 
place  in  the  La  Grange  family  —  you  start.  Flower 
is  my  own  daughter.  I  am  a  half-breed  Indian. 
My  name  is  Onteora.  Both  my  grandfather  and 
his  father  were  chiefs  of  the  Cherokee  tribe.  I  am 
a  direct  descendant  of  the  great  chief  Attakulla- 
kulla,  friendly  to  your  people,  who,  in  1761,  made 


306  CAROLINA  LEE 

peace  between  the  Cherokees  and  the  great  war 
governor,  Bull.  My  father  married  a  white  woman 
of  good  family,  named  Janet  Christopher.  I,  too, 
married  white  blood.  I  was  married  by  Father 
Hennessey,  the  Jesuit  priest,  to  a  Frenchman  named 
Pierre  Pellisier,  who  died  in  Charleston  in  1889. 
I  have  the  documents  to  prove  all  these  things. 
Here,  I  will  show  them  to  you. 

"  I  am  educated  beyond  my  class.  I  speak 
French.  I  can  read  and  write,  but  no  one  knows 
what  I  can  do,  because  I  have  lived  as  an  Indian 
woman  in  order  to  avert  suspicion  from  my  child. 
All  my  children  died  except  Flower.  She  was  my 
baby,  —  pure  white,  as  you  see,  and  so  pretty !  Miss 
Le  Moyne,  who  educated  Flower,  knew  the  truth. 
We  agreed  upon  terms.  Miss  Le  Moyne  would 
have  gone  to  the  poorhouse  if  it  had  not  been  for 
the  money  I  gave  her  every  week  for  the  care  of 
Flower.  And  yet  she  would  have  betrayed  the 
secret  she  swore  by  her  crucifix  to  keep,  if  death 
had  not  struck  her  dumb  just  in  time !  " 

"  But  why,"  interrupted  Carolina,  "  did  you  not 
come  forward  after  Flower's  marriage  and  tell  the 
La  Granges  of  her  honourable  birth?  It  is  a 
proud  heritage  to  have  the  blood  of  kings  run  in 
her  veins." 

Onteora  shook  her  head. 

"  The  time  was  not  ripe.    It  needed  you  to  open 


CAROLINA  LEE  307 

their  eyes.  Now  they  will  listen  because  Fleur-de- 
lys  has  found  a  friend!  You  have  rescued  her 
from  their  contempt.  You  have  rescued  my  grand 
son  from  blindness  —  a  blindness  I  knew  the  mo 
ment  I  looked  at  him.  And  for  that  reason  I  have 
a  gift  for  the  daughter  of  the  Lees  —  a  gift  she 
will  not  despise !  " 

Onteora  disappeared  and  when  she  came  back 
she  held  in  one  hand  two  silver  coasters,  beauti 
fully  carved  and  inscribed  in  French,  "  From  the 
Marquis  de  La  Fayette  to  his  friend  Moultrie  Lee, 
Esquire,  of  Guildford,  1784."  And  in  the  other 
a  large  silver  tankard  engraved,  "  To  Major-Gen 
eral  Gadsden  Lee,  of  Guildford,  from  his  obliged 
friend,  George  Washington,  1791." 

Carolina's  shining  eyes  were  lifted  from  the 
massive  silver  pieces  to  Onteora's  face.  The  woman 
nodded. 

"  The  famous  Lee  silver !  I  have  it  all !  It  was 
I  who  removed  it  and  hid  it  here.  It  was  in  1866,. 
before  I  was  married.  I  tracked  'Polyte  and  her 
husband  to  its  hiding-place  and  took  it  away.  No' 
one  ever  knew  —  not  even  my  husband!  I  never 
knew  why  I  kept  it  secret.  I  saw  the  rewards 
offered.  I  could  have  been  rich.  I  could  have  dow 
ered  Fleur-de-lys  so  that  even  the  La  Granges  would' 
have  welcomed  her.  But  something  told  me  to 
wait.  Wait!  Wait!  Now,  I  know  why.  It  was 


3o8  CAROLINA  LEE 

to  give  it  to  you  in  return  for  my  child's  happi 
ness!  If  I  had  returned  it  for  the  money,  that 
money  would  have  gone  to  help  ruin  the  La 
Granges,  and  I  should  have  come  to  you  empty- 
handed!" 

The  woman  was  barbaric  in  this  speech.  She 
showed  her  Indian  blood,  her  Indian  power,  her 
Indian  patience. 

Carolina  reached  out  her  hand  and  Onteora  took 
it  in  both  of  hers. 

"What  do  you  wish  me  to  do?"  Carolina 
asked,  gently. 

"  Take  these,"  said  Onteora  with  sudden  pas 
sion,  thrusting  the  documents  toward  Carolina, 
"  and  show  them  to  the  La  Granges !  " 

She  sprang  to.  her  feet  and  folded  her  arms  in 
a  matchless  pride. 

She  was,  in  truth,  an  Indian. 

The  rain  had  ceased  and  Carolina's  things  were 
dried.  Onteora  helped  her  to  dress,  her  eyes  shin 
ing  with  delight  at  Carolina's  beauty,  but  she  ex 
pressed  nothing  in  words. 

"  Come  and  see  your  silver,"  she  said. 

She  led  Carolina  to  a  smaller  cavern,  where,  by 
the  light  of  a  candle,  Carolina  could  see  the  black 
shapes  of  all  the  silver  Cousin  De  Courcey  had 
described  to  her.  But  so  cunningly  was  this  cavern 
concealed,  that  even  one  who  discovered  the  cave 


CAROLINA  LEE  309 

wherein  they  stood  would  never  have  found  the 
cavern. 

"  It  reminds  me  of  Monte  Cristo !  "  she  said  to 
herself  in  the  breathless  delight  every  one  feels  at 
the  touch  of  the  romantic  and  mysterious  in  a 
humdrum  daily  life. 

Then,  as  she  realized  the  boundless  Source  of 
Supply  whence  this  precious  silver  and  thrice  pre 
cious  information  had  come,  Carolina  turned  and 
put  her  arms  around  Onteora. 

At  this  sign  of  human  love,  tears  filled  the  eyes 
of  the  Indian. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

LOOSE    THREADS 

-« 

MRS.  GODDARD  alone  knew  of  Carolina's  discour 
agements,  disappointments,  and  dangers,  as  the  sum 
mer  came  and  went.  To  all  others  the  girl  turned 
a  smiling  face,  and  Mrs.  La  Grange  often  wondered 
at  her  courage.  How  could  she  know  that  there 
were  times  when  that  sorely  tried  courage  ebbed 
so  low  that  many  a  cipher  telegram  winged  its 
soft  way  to  her  practitioner  for  help,  and  that  the 
battle  with  tears  and  disheartenment  was  fought 
out  alone  in  the  silence  and  sanctuary  of  her  closet? 

Often  things  went  very  wrong.  She  was  cheated 
by  men  because  she  was  a  woman.  She  was  hated 
by  the  rural  doctors  because  she  healed  diseases. 
She  was  an  object  of  suspicion  among  the  neigh 
bours  because  she  was  not  "  orthodox."  She  was 
accused  of  inciting  the  negroes  to  an  idea  of  social 
equality  because  she  taught  them.  Father  Hen 
nessey  gave  her  all  the  trouble  he  could,  but  Caro 
lina's  constant  and  unvarying  kindness  to  the  poor 
in  his  parish  finally  drove  him  to  an  armed  neu 
trality.  He  hated  her,  but  dared  not  show  it  too 

310 


CAROLINA  LEE  311 

openly,  because  she  had  powerful  influence  back 
of  her.  The  La  Granges  rose  to  her  defence  en 
masse,  and  carried  all  their  enormous  relationship 
with  them.  Carolina  had  removed  the  largest  blot 
from  their  escutcheon,  and  no  price  was  too  great 
to  pay.  Flower  became  the  pet  of  the  whole  family, 
and,  in  their  gratitude,  they  even  endeavoured  to 
provide  for  Onteora,  but  that  wise  woman,  having 
seen  justice  meted  out  to  her  child,  silently  disap 
peared,  and,  beyond  knowing  that  she  lived  and 
wanted  for  nothing,  they  could  discover  no  more 
about  her. 

She  was  not  too  far  away,  however,  to  keep  the 
unruly  negroes  in  order,  and  many  a  warning  went 
out  from  the  voodoo  when  Carolina's  interests  were 
jeopardized. 

'Polyte's  surveillance  was  something  Carolina  had 
not  bargained  for.  At  first  his  devotion  was  engen 
dered  by  gratitude  for  the  trust  she  placed  in  him, 
and  fear,  for  he  knew  that  she  actually  held  over 
him  the  power  of  life  and  death.  Even  if  she  were 
ignorant  of  the  true  significance  of  that  meeting 
in  the  woods,  at  what  moment  might  not  some 
stray  anecdote  bring  home  to  her  its  meaning? 
'Polyte  was  no  fool,  and  there  were  times  when 
he  writhed  in  a  hell  of  fear. 

Then  gradually  Carolina's  personality  began  to 
gain  ascendency  over  him,  as  it  had  over  Tempy 


312  CAROLINA  LEE 

and  Calla  and  Rose  Maud,  and  even  flighty  ones 
like  Lily  and  her  kind,  and  he  worshipped  her  as 
a  superior  being.  Carolina  embodied  to  the  negroes 
the  old  times  of  prosperity  and  the  patriarchal  pro 
tection  of  the  whites.  They  liked  the  idea  of  the 
restoration  of  the  old  Guildford  mansion.  Aged 
negroes,  who  had  known  the  place  in  its  prime, 
heard  of  its  rebuilding  and  journeyed  back  many 
weary  miles  to  see  "  old  mahstah's  "  granddaughter, 
and  to  test  her  hospitality.  Several  of  these  Caro 
lina  annexed  and  housed  in  the  clean  and  shining 
new  quarters,  and  she  was  amply  repaid  by  their 
real  knowledge  of  past  events  and  their  idolatry 
of  herself  as  the  last  of  the  Lees. 

'Polyte  studied  her  every  whim,  and  carried  it 
out  with  the  zeal  of  a  fetich. 

The  mare  Araby  became  her  property  almost  by 
magic.  'Polyte  would  never  say  one  word  concern 
ing  it,  but  one  day  Barnwell  Mazyck  sent  word 
to  Carolina  that  she  could  have  the  mare  on  her 
own  terms,  only  he  felt  obliged  to  warn  her  that 
Araby  had  turned  vicious. 

'Polyte  spoke  only  one  sentence. 

"  Ef  you  tek  her,  missy,  she  won't  trick  you! " 

"  Oh,  'Polyte !  "  cried  Carolina,  "  what  have  you 
been  doing?" 

"  Not  a  t'ing,  Miss  Callina.  Honest !  Only  I 
raised  dat  mah,  en  I  knows  huh ! " 


CAROLINA  LEE  313 

Carolina  still  hesitated  until  Moultrie  brought 
word  that  Araby  had  nipped  at  Barney's  hand,  and 
in  a  rage  he  had  kicked  her.  After  that,  the  mare 
would  not  allow  him  to  approach,  but  even  at  the 
sight  of  him  she  would  rear,  bite,  and  kick,  so  that, 
being  quite  useless  to  her  owner,  he  proposed  to 
sell  her,  —  if  not  to  Carolina,  then  to  some  one 
else. 

Hearing  that  decided  the  girl.  She  bought 
Araby,  and  sent  'Polyte  to  fetch  her. 

The  beautiful  creature  proved  as  gentle  as  a 
lamb,  and,  even  on  the  day  when  'Polyte  led  her 
up  for  Carolina  to  see,  she  nosed  her  new  mistress 
lovingly. 

"  Why,  she  seems  just  as  usual,"  said  Carolina, 
but  she  did  not  see  'Polyte's  heaving  shoulders  and 
convulsed  face. 

Thus,  for  the  most  part,  the  negroes  were  Caro 
lina's  friends.  They  not  only  stood  in  awe  of  her 
body-guard,  'Polyte,  who  knew  them  root  and 
branch,  good  and  bad  alike,  but  their  childish  van 
ity  was  tickled  by  the  beauty  of  the  small  white 
marble  chapel  Carolina  built  on  the  estate,  which 
had  an  organ  and  stained-glass  windows  and  a 
gallery  for  negroes. 

This  had  been  Mr.  Howard's  gift  to  the  little 
band  of  Christian  Scientists  which  he  had  found 
on  his  first  trip  down  South,  meeting  every  Sunday 


314  CAROLINA  LEE 

on  Carolina's  cottage  porch,  which,  vine-shaded 
and  screened  and  furnished  daintily,  was  as  large 
as  the  cottage  itself.  He  took  infinite  pleasure  in 
furnishing  the  finest  material  and  in  rushing  the 
work  with  Northern  energy,  and  personally  super 
vising  the  building. 

He  well  knew  that  he  could  please  Carolina  in 
no  better  way,  and,  when  Rosemary  Goddard's  hus 
band,  the  Honourable  Lionel  Spencer,  became 
president  of  the  turpentine  company,  which  was 
organized  on  the  basis  of  Carolina's  investigations, 
and  confirmed  by  Mr.  Howard's  agents,  and  it  be 
came  necessary  for  the  Spencers  to  live  in  South 
Carolina,  Rosemary  was  elected  first  reader  of  the 
little  church,  and  Carolina  offered  them  the  use  of 
her  cottage  until  they  could  build,  while  she  and 
Cousin  Lois  took  possession  of  the  now  completed 
Guildford  mansion. 

Things  were  prospering  with  the  La  Grange 
family.  Peachie  had  become  engaged  to  Sir  Hu 
bert  Wemyss,  who,  urged  by  the  example  of  his 
friend  Lionel  Spencer,  and  the  enormous  profits 
of  the  turpentine  company,  had  invested  largely, 
and,  after  taking  Peachie  to  England  to  meet  his 
family  and  make  her  bow  as  Lady  Wemyss  to  the 
king  and  queen,  he  promised  to  return  to  America 
for  half  of  the  year. 

Carolina  went  to  New  York  twice  during  the 


CAROLINA  LEE  315 

summer,  and  visited  Sherman  and  Addie  at  their 
camp  in  the  Adirondacks. 

To  her  surprise,  she  found  Colonel  Yancey  there. 
He  had  paid  one  or  two  mysterious  visits  to  his 
sisters  at  Whitehall,  and  had  been  deeply  pleased 
to  discover  that  they  were  both  members  of  the 
little  Christian  Science  church  there.  He  even  went 
so  far  as  to  ask  Carolina  to  organize  a  Sunday 
school,  which  had  not  then  been  done,  and  to  enroll 
Emmeline  and  Gladys  as  its  first  members. 

He  also  took  this  opportunity,  let  it  be  said,  to 
offer  himself  to  Carolina  again,  but  promised  her, 
if  she  refused  him  this  time,  after  he  had  declared 
himself  a  believer  in  the  new  thought,  that  he  would 
never  trouble  her  again. 

Mr.  Howard  viewed  Colonel  Yancey's  conversion 
to  Christian  Science  with  amused  toleration,  but 
Carolina,  who  knew  why,  held  steadfastly  to  the 
thought  that  there  can  be  no  dishonesty  in  the  per 
fect  man,  and  so  firmly  did  she  cling  to  this  affir 
mation  that,  when  Colonel  Yancey,  in  the  Adiron 
dacks,  announced  that  the  old  oil  wells  had  again 
begun  to  yield,  and  that  all  the  money  which  she 
and  Sherman  had  considered  lost  was  by  way  of 
being  restored  to  them,  Carolina  resolutely  closed 
her  eyes  to  any  investigations  which  might  unearth 
disagreeable  discoveries,  even  opposing  her  best 
friend,  Mr.  Howard,  in  this  decision,  and  simply 


316  CAROLINA  LEE 

opened  her  arms  to  her  reappearing  fortune  and  her 
heart  in  gratitude  therefor. 

Neither  she  nor  Mrs.  Goddard  was  even  sur 
prised. 

"  From  the  moment  I  knew  that  the  man's  change 
of  heart  was  sincere  and  that  he  was  a  true  Chris 
tian  Scientist,  I  knew  this  restoration  must  come," 
she  said,  "  otherwise  no  blessing  of  peace  nor  un 
troubled  night's  sleep  could  come  to  him.  Chris 
tian  Science  lays  bare  the  very  root  of  error,  and 
when  error  is  recognized  in  the  light  of  day,  it 
must  disappear  from  the  heart  of  an  honest  man." 

But  Carolina  only  said  in  the  depths  of  her  own 
soul: 

"  See  what  Divine  Love  hath  wrought !  " 

There  were  changes,  too,  going  on  in  Moultrie. 
He  had  never  repeated  his  declaration  of  love  to 
Carolina,  but  in  every  unobtrusive  way  he  made  her 
feel  that  she  was  surrounded  by  it,  while  as  to  the 
lesson  she  had  conveyed  to  him  in  that  one  stinging 
sentence,  which  was  never  absent  from  the  minds 
of  either  of  them,  it  was  his  mother  who  brought 
word  of  its  effect. 

"  Carolina,  child,  I  never  saw  such  a  change  in 
any  man  in  my  life,  as  there  is  in  Moultrie.  He 
has  subscribed  for  three  or  four  Northern  news 
papers,  and  as  to  books!  Not  novels,  mind  you. 
They  are  histories  and  biographies  and  Congres- 


CAROLINA  LEE  317 

sional  reports,  —  the  driest  things !  Peachie  and  I 
tried  to  read  them,  but  we  couldn't,  and,  when  I 
asked  Moultrie  if  he  were  getting  ready  to  write 
a  book,  he  answered  me  in  such  a  short  way,  *  No, 
mother.  I  am  only  trying  to  educate  myself  for 
the  first  time.'  '  Oh,  son ! '  I  said,  for  I  assure  you 
I  was  hurt  to  hear  my  son,  who  has  had  the  best 
education  of  any  of  the  boys  around  here,  speak 
as  if  he  weren't  satisfied  with  his  education.  But 
he  only  patted  my  head  and  said  he  was  only  study 
ing  now  for  a  purpose.  What  do  you  reckon  it  is  ?  " 

"  He  has  said  nothing  to  me  about  it,"  said  Caro 
lina,  but  Mrs.  La  Grange  noticed  her  scarlet  cheeks, 
and,  thinking  it  might  be  only  a  self-conscious  blush, 
dropped  the  subject. 

Moultrie  had  asked  Carolina  if  he  might  write 
to  her  while  she  was  away,  and  she  had  assented, 
though  with  fear  and  trembling,  for  some  of  the 
letters  she  had  received  on  business  from  various 
people  contained  serious  shocks  for  a  fastidious  and 
cultivated  mind,  but  Moultrie's  letters  proved  a 
pleasant  surprise.  Not  only  were  they  correctly 
written  and  correctly  spelled,  but  in  them  he  had 
dared  to  let  himself  go  as  he  never  had  done  in 
conversation,  and  Carolina  found  not  only  a  distinct 
literary  style  but  an  imagination  which  astonished 
her.  Although  he  carefully  avoided  subjects  which 
had  been  discussed  between  them,  he  showed  a 


3i8  CAROLINA  LEE 

breadth  and  largeness  of  view  which  could  only 
come  from  a  wider  vision  of  things  in  general. 

Then  came  the  time,  after  Carolina's  return,  when 
the  great  turpentine  company  was  being  organized, 
backed  by  unlimited  capital,  and  destined  to  corner 
the  market  "  for  educational  purposes,"  as  Kate  put 
it,  when  there  arose  a  crying  need  for  an  honest 
Southern  man,  one  who  knew  the  country  well,  one 
who  possessed  the  confidence  of  the  sly,  tricky 
crackers,  —  those  crackers  so  crafty  that  straight 
forward  dealing  is  impossible,  —  who  possess  little 
sense  of  honour,  who  are  prejudiced  beyond  belief, 
narrow  beyond  credence,  ignorant  beyond  imagina 
tion,  who  are  only  honest  under  compulsion,  and 
who  require  the  greatest  tact,  not  to  say  craft,  in 
handling.  These  are  the  men  who,  for  the  most 
part,  produce  the  orchard  turpentine,  and  who,  for 
the  company's  purpose,  had  to  be  tied  up  by  con 
tract  in  long  leases.  A  Northern  man  could  not 
have  touched  them.  They  will  deal  only  with  their 
own,  and  even  then  must  be  "  managed." 

For  two  months  the  organization  of  the  company 
was  held  up  because  no  one  could  be  found  capable 
of  filling  this  delicate  position. 

Then,  to  the  relief  of  all,  and  to  Carolina's  secret 
delight,  Moultrie  La  Grange  offered  himself,  and, 
upon  being  instantly  accepted,  upon  Mr.  Howard's 
and  Carolina's  advice,  he  leased  them  the  stumpage 


CAROLINA  LEE  319 

rights  of  Simnymede,  and  then  and  there  was  born 
the  purpose  to  restore  the  home  of  the  La  Granges, 
even  as  Carolina  had  restored  Guildford  —  out  of 
money  earned  by  the  place  itself. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

THE    HOUSE  -  PARTY    ARRIVES 

EVER  since  the  restoration  of  Guildford  had  been 
an  assured  fact,  Carolina  had  looked  forward  to 
gathering  the  dearest  of  her  friends  and  relatives 
under  its  roof  for  a  housewarming,  and  as  Thanks 
giving  Day  was  the  first  festival  to  occur  after  its 
completion,  she  issued  her  invitations  for  that  day, 
and  anticipated  the  arrival  of  her  guests  with  a 
heart  so  full  of  gratitude  that  she  walked  with  her 
head  in  the  clouds. 

Beautiful  Guildford  stood  upon  its  ancient  site, 
more  beautiful  by  far  than  it  ever  had  been  before, 
for  Carolina  had  allowed  herself  a  few  liberties, 
which,  after  seeing,  even  Judge  Fanshaw  Lee  ap 
proved. 

For  example,  the  great  flight  of  steps,  as  broad 
as  an  ordinary  house,  was  lengthened  to  raise  the 
house  to  an  even  more  commanding  position,  and 
to  allow  a  better  view  of  the  ocean  and  river  from 
the  upper  windows  and  the  flat,  railed-in  roof.  In 
the  midst  of  this  great  flight  of  steps  was  a  platform, 
where  twenty  persons  might  have  dined  at  ease, 

320 


CAROLINA  LEE  321 

with  a  collateral  flight  of  steps  on  each  side,,  lead 
ing,  as  well  as  the  second  section  of  the  central 
staircase,  to  the  porch.  No  one  who  has  not  seen 
Guildford  can  form  any  idea  of  the  imposing  beauty 
of  this  snowy  expanse  of  steps  leading  to  its 
veranda.  And  such  a  veranda!  Surely,  the  ob 
server  exclaimed,  the  whole  house  could  be  no 
larger!  so  great  was  the  idea  its  size  first  induced. 
It  ran  around  all  four  sides  of  the  house,  and  was 
lived  in  for  fully  nine  months  of  the  year.  It  was 
fitted  with  screens  and  glass,  which  could  be  re 
moved  at  will,  but  for  her  house-party,  so  perfect 
was  the  weather,  even  these  slight  obstructions  to 
the  view  were  dispensed  with. 

Inside  the  house,  however,  Carolina  had  carried 
out  the  original  plan,  with  only  the  necessary  addi 
tions  of  bathrooms  to  each  suite  and  plenty  of 
closets,  which  the  old  Guildford  had  never  pos 
sessed.  This  did  not  interfere  with  the  installation 
of  the  great  carved  wardrobes,  without  which  no 
Southern  house  could  look  natural  to  a  Southerner. 

These  she  designed  from  old  cuts  and  had  made 
to  order,  preferring  new  ones  exactly  like  those 
which  had  been  in  the  family  for  generations  to 
purchasing  old  pieces  which  rightly  belonged  to 
other  histories  than  hers.  Guildford  was  frankly 
a  restoration,  so  she  boldly  reproduced  the  furni 
ture  as  well  as  the  house. 


322  CAROLINA  LEE 

With  the  papering  she  had  some  difficulty.  No 
one  could  remember  the  exact  patterns,  and  there 
was  more  friction  over  diverse  recollections  of  wall 
paper  than  over  any  other  point.  But  Carolina 
waived  all  advice  finally,  deciding  that  decorations 
were  but  temporary  at  best,  and  resting  upon  the 
absolute  word  of  Judge  Fanshaw  Lee,  of  Charles 
ton,  that  Guildford  had  been  utterly  redecorated 
in  1859. 

This  decision  gave  Carolina  a  free  hand,  and 
she  exercised  her  taste  to  such  good  purpose  that 
the  new  Guildford,  in  its  decorations,  maintained 
an  air  of  age,  yet  so  skilfully  was  it  done  that  it 
was  also  essentially  modern.  Only  patterns  were 
used  which  had  borne  the  test  of  time,  as  one  who 
discarded  in  cut  glass  the  showier  designs  for  the 
dignified  simpler  patterns,  considering  them  more 
restful  to  live  with  than  those  more  ornate  and 
modern. 

In  her  cut  glass  Carolina  had  been  more  fortu 
nate,  owing  to  the  possession  of  a  few  precious 
pieces,  preserved  among  the  Lees,  from  which  to 
design.  The  largest  was  a  huge  epergne,  with  glit 
tering  pendants,  which  rose  almost  to  the  chandelier, 
and  was  designed  for  pyramids  of  fruit.  It  was 
so  delightfully  old-fashioned  that  Carolina  viewed 
it  with  clasped  hands. 

Although    electric    light    glowed    unobtrusively 


CAROLINA  LEE  323 

from  submerged  globes  in  walls  and  ceilings,  Caro 
lina  used  sconces  for  the  wax  tapers  of  her  ances 
tors,  and  the  delicate  light  was  so  deftly  shaded  and 
manipulated  that  it  seemed  only  to  aid  and  abet  the 
candles. 

The  central  staircase  of  the  house  rose  from  the 
midst  of  a  square  hall,  turned  on  a  broad  landing, 
and  wound,  in  two  wings,  back  upon  itself  to  reach 
the  second  floor.  On  this  landing  was  an  enormous 
window,  cushioned  and  comfortable,  from  which 
the  view  of  the  fallow  fields  and  winding  river  was 
quite  as  attractive  as  the  front  view,  which  gave 
upon  the  distant  ocean. 

The  main  hall  pierced  the  roof,  in  the  centre  of 
which  was  a  gorgeous  skylight  of  stained  glass. 
Here,  too,  Carolina  had  departed  from  the  lines  of 
ancient  Guildford,  for  no  less  a  hand  than  that  of 
John  La  Farge  designed  that  graceful  group,  whose 
colours  drenched  the  marble  floor  beneath  with  all 
the  colours  of  the  rainbow. 

A  high  carved  balustrade  ran  around  this  space 
on  the  second  floor,  from  behind  which,  in  years 
gone  by,  the  children  and  black  mammies  had 
viewed  the  arrival  of  distinguished  guests,  whose 
visits  had  helped  to  make  Guildford  famous. 

From  this  square  space,  transverse  halls  ran  each 
way,  with  suites  of  rooms  on  both  sides,  ending  in 
doors  which  led  to  the  upper  porch,  as  large  and 


324  CAROLINA  LEE 

commodious  and  more  beautiful  than  the  lower, 
because  the  view  was  finer. 

This  gives  an  idea  of  the  plan  of  Guildford,  but 
not  necessarily  of  other  Southern  houses,  unless  you 
go  back  to  old  New  Orleans,  for  Guildford  partook 
largely  of  the  beauty  of  the  Creole  estates,  owing 
to  the  originator  of  the  present  design,  who  had 
felt  the  influence  of  many  foreign  countries  in  his 
travels.  Returning  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his 
life  in  his  native  land,  he  had  built  Guildford  —  a 
mansion  in  those  days  —  in  1703,  on  the  site  of  the 
first  house,  built  originally  in  1674.  Thus,  the 
Guildford  which  Carolina  built  was  the  third  actual 
house  to  bear  that  name. 

The  morning  of  Thanksgiving  Day  dawned  clear, 
cool,  and  beautiful.  Carolina  was  up  at  sunrise, 
full  of  delightful  anticipations,  and  as  brimming 
with  zeal  for  the  pleasure  of  her  guests  as  any  young 
bride  in  her  first  house. 

Mr.  Howard  was  bringing  most  of  his  guests  in 
his  car,  and  only  yesterday  she  had  received  a  tele 
gram  from  him  saying:  "Am  bringing  an  extra 
guest,  an  old  friend  of  yours,  as  a  surprise.  Due 
Enterprise  nine  A.  M.  to-morrow.  All  Lees  aboard." 

Just  as  he  had  anticipated,  this  threw  her  into 
a  fever  of  curiosity.  It  must  be  some  one  who 
would  be  congenial,  yet  she  fancied  she  had  asked 
everybody  who  seemed  to  belong.  Who  could 


CAROLINA  LEE  325 

the  newcomer  be?  Man  or  woman?  Old  or 
young? 

"  All  Lees  aboard."  That  meant  that  Sherman 
and  Addie  had  decided  to  come,  after  all.  She 
wondered  if  they  had  brought  the  children.  All 
Lees.  That  must  mean  the  children,  because  she 
had  invited  them.  All  Lees,  —  that  meant  also  the 
Fanshaw  Lees,  of  Charleston,  whom  he  had  prom 
ised  to  pick  up  on  the  way.  But  who  could  the 
other  be?  Carolina  almost  shook  the  scrap  of  yel 
low  paper  to  make  it  divulge  the  secret.  How 
uncommunicative  telegrams  can  be! 

There  was  plenty  of  room  at  Guildford,  —  that 
was  fortunate.  And  every  room  was  in  order. 
She  would  give  him  (?)  her  (?)  the  violet  room 
and  bath  in  the  south  wing.  But  if  she  only  knew ! 

Rosemary  and  her  husband  were  comfortably  en 
sconced  in  the  cottage,  and  had  asked  to  have  Mrs. 
Goddard  under  their  own  roof.  Colonel  Yancey 
and  his  children  would,  of  course,  be  the  guests 
of  Mrs.  Pringle  at  Whitehall,  but  Carolina  expected 
as  her  very  own,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howard,  Kate,  Noel, 
and  Sir  Hubert  Wemyss,  Judge  Fanshaw  Lee  and 
his  wife  and  children,  from  Charleston,  Cousin  De 
Courcey  Lee,  Aunt  Evelyn  Lee,  Aunt  Isabel  and 
Uncle  Gordon  Fitzhugh,  with  the  children,  Eppie, 
Marie,  Teddy,  and  Bob. 

Every  neighbour  within  a  radius  of  twenty  miles 


326  CAROLINA  LEE 

was  anxious  to  help  Carolina  entertain  her  guests. 
Moultrie  had  arranged  a  hunt,  Aunt  Angie  was 
to  give  an  oyster  roast  on  the  shore,  Colonel  Yan- 
cey  had  declared  for  an  old-fashioned  barbecue, 
whereat  all  the  negroes  promptly  lost  their  minds. 
Mrs.  Gordon  Fitzhugh,  after  consulting  Carolina's 
plans,  advised  a  fishing-party  and  picnic,  rather  an 
oddity  in  November,  with  everything  to  be  cooked 
on  the  ground,  including  a  'possum  with  sweet  pota 
toes.  Carolina  greeted  each  of  these  proposals  with 
tears  in  her  eyes.  Never  before  had  she  been  so 
loved!  Hitherto,  she  had  been  surrounded  by 
courtiers,  flattered  and  admired,  always,  however, 
with  a  generous  appreciation  of  favours  to  come. 

But  here,  she  was  with  her  own,  and  her  own  had 
received  her  with  open  arms  and  taken  her  into 
their  inmost  hearts. 

As  Carolina  walked  in  her  garden,  after  hef 
morning  canter  on  Araby,  she  wondered  if  any  one 
on  earth  was  so  fortunate  as  she. 

A  messenger  came  up  the  broad  avenue,  and 
Carolina  went  to  meet  him.  It  was  with  a  note 
'from  Mrs.  Barnwell,  saying  that  she  was  sending 
the  carryall  to  the  station  at  Enterprise,  for  fear 
Carolina,  at  the  last  moment,  might  not  have  room 
for  all  her  guests. 

The  Barnwells'  carryall!  Carolina  gave  a  laugh 
that  was  half  a  sob,  to  think  of  the  part  that  an- 


CAROLINA  LEE  327 

cient  vehicle  had  played  in  her  life  during  the  last 
year.  The  neighbours  had  not  seen  the  glistening 
carriages  and  automobiles  which  stood  as  impa 
tiently  as  inanimate  things  so  beautiful  and  alert 
can  be,  —  inanimate  things  which  know  that  they 
can  go.  She  turned  to  the  messenger. 

"  Give  my  love  to  Mrs.  Barnwell,  Sam,  and  say 
that  I  will  ride  home  in  the  carryall  myself,  and 
that  I  thank  her  for  her  kindness.  Can  you  remem 
ber  that,  or  shall  I  write  a  note  ?  " 

"  I  kin  'member  it,  Miss  Calline.  Thank  you, 
ma'am ! " 

Mrs.  Barnwell  subsequently  got  a  message  from 
Sam  to  the  effect  that  "  Miss  Calline  sed  she'd  'a' 
had  to  walk  her  own  self  ef  Mrs.  Barnwell  hadn't 
'a'  sont  de  ca'yall."  Which  is  about  as  accurate 
as  any  message  can  be  after  going  through  the 
brain  of  a  negro. 

Finally  it  was  time  to  go  to  the  train.  Carolina 
had  no  fear  that  the  train  carrying  the  car  of  a 
president  of  a  Northern  road  would  be  late,  so  she 
hurried  Rosemary  and  Lionel  and  Cousin  Lois  into 
her  big  blue  French  touring-car,  and  started. 

As  they  sped  down  the  great  avenue,  Carolina 
looked  back  at  Guildford,  as  a  mother  looks  back 
at  her  first-born  child.  There  rose  the  beautiful 
house,  just  as  the  strangers  would  get  their  first 
glimpse  of  it;  for  the  last  time  the  Howards  came 


328  CAROLINA  LEE 

South,  only  a  dim  fdea  of  it  could  have  been  ob 
tained. 

There  was  not  a  hint  of  frost  as  yet.  Late  roses 
bloomed  riotously  in  the  garden,  which  Carolina 
had  been  tending  for  the  last  eight  months  with  a 
view  to  this  very  day.  She  had  planned  well.  She 
did  not  intend  to  have  a  rebuilt  Guildford  look  down 
upon  patches  of  brown  earth,  remains  of  mortar 
beds,  and  broken-down  shrubbery.  Every  day  she 
had  cautioned  the  workmen  against  destroying  any 
of  her  outdoor  work,  and,  as  fast  as  she  could,  she 
had  made  the  gardens,  the  lawns,  and  the  hedges 
keep  pace  with  the  builders,  -so  that  everything 
might  be  completed  practically  at  the  same  time.  A 
dozen  black  forms  were  hurrying  hither  and  thither, 
bent  on  carrying  out  "  lill  mistis's  last  orders."  The 
quarters  glistened  in  the  sunshine,  even  the  dogs 
asleep  on  the  steps  were  just  as  Carolina  had  pic 
tured  Guildford  in  her  childish  dreams  in  Paris. 

It  was  a  very  excited  little  group  which  stood 
on  the  tiny  platform  at  Enterprise,  waiting"  for  the 
train. 

Finally,  only  half  an  hour  late,  its  warning 
whistle  sounded,  and  scarcely  had  the  brakes 
squeaked,  when  Mr.  Howard  sprang  from  the  for 
ward  end  of  the  rear  car,  followed  by  —  Doctor 
Colfax ! 

Carolina  could  scarcely  believe  her  eyes.    She  did 


CAROLINA  LEE  329 

not  speak.  She  only  went  with  outstretched  hands 
to  meet  her  friends,  and  something  in  the  way  Doc 
tor  Colfax  looked  at  her  hinted  at  some  great 
change.  Then  Mrs.  Goddard  followed,  and,  even 
in  the  excitement  of  placing  her  people  in  the  proper 
vehicles,  and  in  the  midst  of  unanswered  questions 
and  unlistened-to  replies,  Carolina  noticed  that  Doc 
tor  Colfax  hovered  near  Mrs.  Goddard.  She  won 
dered  if  he  remembered  the  last  thing  he  said 
about  her.  But,  oh,  the  joy  of  seeing  them 
friends ! 

Addie  was  wonderfully  friendly.  She  kissed 
Carolina  quite  affectionately,  and  told  her  that  Kate 
Howard  had  succeeded  in  curing  her  neuralgia,  to 
which  Carolina  knew  Addie  had  been  a  slave  for 
years. 

Addie's  children,  Cynthia  and  Arthur,  were  wild 
with  delight.  It  was  the  first  time  they  ever  had 
been  South,  and  to  leave  snow  in  New  York  on 
one  day  and  see  roses  blooming  the  next  was  more 
than  their  young  imaginations  could  stand. 

They  always  had  been  fond  of  their  Aunt  Caro 
lina,  but  now  their  comments  on  her  beauty  were 
quite  embarrassing. 

As  Kate  sprang  from  the  steps,  a  close  observer 
might  have  seen  a  telegraphic  question  flash  from 
Carolina's  eyes  to  hers  and  a  quick  negative  flash 
back.  No  one  but  a  woman  would  have  known 


330  CAROLINA  LEE 

what  it  signified.     Still  Carolina  seemed  satisfied 
with  Kate's  radiant  aspect. 

Judge  Fanshaw  Lee  was  pompous  but  plainly 
delighted,  and  ready  to  be  pleased  with  everything. 
Carolina  was  keen  to  see  what  he  would  think  of 
»her  daring,  for  he  had  promptly  wet-blanketed  her 
every  effort  to  assist  him  in  any  way.  But  she 
could  see  that  he  was  impressed  with  the  appearance 
of  her  automobiles,  and  she  fairly  ached  to  have 
him  see  Guildford. 

To  achieve  this  end,  she  gave  personal  instruc 
tions  to  each  chauffeur  and  driver  to  go  by  roads 
which  would  enable  her,  even  in  the  Barnwells' 
carryall,  to  arrive  at  Guildford  first. 

"You  aren't  going  in  that  thing?"  cried  Kate. 
"  There's  plenty  of  room  here." 

"  I'm  going  in  it  to  accept  the  hospitality  of  a 
dear  neighbour,"  said  Carolina. 

Kate  and  Noel  were  seated  in  a  little  electric 
runabout.     As  they  started  ahead,  Kate  turned  to 
.  Noel  and  said : 

~,  "  Somehow,  I  can't  listen  to  anything  Carolina 
says  lately  without  knowing  that  the  bridge  of 
my  nose  is  going  to  ache  before  she  turns  me 
loose." 

"  She  certainly  is  the  most  angelic  creature !  " 
said  Noel. 

Kate  looked  at  him  out  of  the  tail  of  her  eye. 


CAROLINA  LEE  331 

"  Do  you  like  angels  ?  " 

"  I  do,  indeed." 

A  pause. 

"  But  I  could  never  fall  in  love  with  one." 

"Oh!  "said  Kate. 

Noel  cleared  his  throat  once  or  twice,  as  if  trying 
to  say  something.  Finally  he  said: 

"  Kate,  won't  you  be  hurt  if  I  say  an  indiscreet 
thing?" 

"  Certainly  not.  You  know  you  can  say  any 
thing  you  like  to  me.  I'm  not  a  fool." 

"  Well,  here  goes,  then.  I've  been  noticing  lately 
that  you  don't  stammer  any  more.  Are  you  being 
treated  for  it  ?  " 

"  No,"  cried  Kate,  plainly  delighted.  "  I  am 
treating  myself." 

"  Then,  don't !  "  cried  Noel.  "  Kate,  I  can't  bear 
it.  Yours  was  the  most  attractive,  the  dearest 
little  mannerism  —  not  a  bit  disagreeable.  Your 
speech,  so  far  from  being  marred  by  it,  was  only 
made  distinctive.  I  —  I  feel  as  if  I  had  lost  my 
Kate!" 

His  voice  sank  with  unmistakable  tenderness  at 
the  last  words,  and  Kate  stiffened  herself,  as  if 
prepared  for  a  plunge  into  ice-water.  Finally  she 
caught  her  breath  sufficiently  to  say,  awkwardly : 

"  If  you  care,  Noel,  of  course  I  w-won't." 

"If  I  care!"  cried  St.   Quentin.     "Do  I  care 


332  CAROLINA  LEE 

about  anything  or  anybody  else  in  all  this  world 
except  Kate  Howard?  Don't  talk  as  if  you  didn't 
know  it." 

"  K-know  it ! "  cried  Kate,  stammering  quite 
honestly.  "  Indeed,"  as  she  told  Carolina  later, 
"  after  that,  I'd  have  stammered  if  I'd  been  cured 
of  it  fifty  times  over.  A  proposal  is  enough  to 
make  any  woman  stammer ! " 

"  Indeed,  and  I  didn't.  I  th-thought  yott  were 
in  love  with  C-Carolina." 

"  Carolina !  "  cried  Noel.  "  Carolina !  Well,  you 
are  blind !  As  if  she  would  ever  look  at  me,  in  the 
first  place  —  " 

"  Oh,  so  that  was  your  reason,"  interrupted 
Kate. 

"  And  in  the  second  place,"  pursued  Noel,  calmly 
ignoring  the  interruption,  "  she  is  in  love  with  —  " 

"With  whom?"  exploded  Kate,  gripping  his 
arm. 

"  Why,  with  La  Grange !  Did  you  never  notice 
them  together  last  spring,  and  then  the  way  she 
speaks  of  him  ?  " 

Kate  let  her  own  love-affair  slip  from  her  mind, 
while  she  thought  rapidly  for  a  few  minutes. 

"  I  believe  you  are  right,"  she  said,  slowly,  "  but 
I  can  tell  you  something  more.  They  are  not  en 
gaged.  Something  is  separating  them." 

"  I  think  so,  too.     Possibly  Carolina  is  holding 


CAROLINA  LEE  333 

off.  I've  noticed  that  girls  have  a  way  of  doing 
that" 

Kate's  face  crimsoned.  She  afterward  told  Caro 
lina  that,  if  Noel  had  caught  her  laughing,  he  would 
have  known  all. 

But  her  obstinate  silence  left  it  to  Noel  to  con 
tinue. 

"  Kate,"  he  said,  finally,  "  when  you  get  through 
playing  with  me,  will  you  begin  to  take  me  seri 
ously?  I'm  tired  of  your  game.  Now  don't  pre 
tend  that  you  haven't  been  baiting  me." 

"  Honestly,  Carolina,"  said  Kate,  afterward, 
"  I'm  telling  you  this  j-just  so  you'll  know  how 
d-dog  funny  the  whole  thing  was.  Here  I've  nearly 
had  nervous  prostration  for  a  year,  wondering  if 
he  ever  would  propose,  and  then  he  went  and  ac 
cused  me  of  playing  a  game  to  hold  him  off !  Aren't 
men  fools  ?  " 

"I  —  I  thought  when  you  g-got  good  and  ready, 
y-you'd  speak  your  mind,"  said  Kate  to  Noel.  "  I 
c-couldn't  go  down  on  my  knees  and  b-beg  you  to 
name  the  day,  could  I  ?  " 

"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me,"  said  St.  Quentin, 
"  that  you  will  accept  me,  —  that  you  will  marry 
me,  Kate?" 

"  T-that's  just  what  my  p-poor,  feeble  speech 
is  t-trying  to  g-get  through  your  th-thick  head," 
said  Kate. 


334  CAROLINA  LEE 

But  Noel  refused  to  be  amused.  He  reached  for 
Kate's  hand,  and,  in  spite  of  Kate's  impertinence, 
if  he  had  looked,  he  would  have  seen  tears  in  her 
eyes. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

/ 

BOB    FITZHUGH 

EVEN  Carolina*  was  satisfied  with  the  expression 
on  Judge  Fanshaw  Lee's  face  when  he  was  whirled 
up  the  great  avenue  of  live-oaks,  and  the  new 
Guildford  burst  upon  his  view.  He  had  snow-white 
hair,  a  pale  olive  complexion,  and  piercing  black 
eyes.  His  eyebrows  were  still  black,  and  he  had 
a  ferocious  way  of  working  them  back  and  forth 
very  rapidly  when  he  was  moved.  This  was  one 
sign  by  which  Carolina  could  tell ;  another  was  that 
the  unusual  colour  came  into  his  face. 

Even  before  the  guests  had  been  to  see  their  own 
rooms,  Carolina  was  implored  to  lead  the  way  and 
let  them  explore  Guildford.  This  she  was  as  eager 
to  do  as  a  young  bride,  and  yet,  in  spite  of  her 
natural  pride  in  her  achievement,  her  modesty  was 
so  sincere  and  delightful  that  Judge  Lee  and  Mri 
Howard  were  obliged  to  ply  her  with  questions. 

The  exclamations  of  delight  were  perfectly  sat 
isfactory,  even  to  Mrs.  Winchester,  who  moved  with 
majestic  mien  in  their  midst,  listening  with  a  jeal 
ous  ear  for  praises  of  her  idol,  and,  by  her  question- 

335 


336  CAROLINA  LEE 

ing  eyes,  plainly  demanding  more  of  the  same 
kind. 

Mrs.  Goddard's  eyes  were  dewy  with  gratitude, 
and  Carolina  whispered  to  her  that  she  —  Mrs.  God- 
dard  —  was  Guildford's  fairy  godmother. 

When  they  had  all  returned  to  the  drawing-room, 
Mr.  Howard  turned  to  Judge  Lee  and  said: 

"  Well,  judge,  what  is  your  opinion  ?  Isn't  this 
pretty  good  for  one  little  girl  to  accomplish  all 
by  herself?" 

"  Mr.  Howard,"  said  Judge  Lee  and  his  eye 
brows,  "  it  is  the  most  marvellous  thing  I  ever  heard 
of  a  young  girl  achieving.  Why,  sir,  to  us  South 
erners,  it  is  nothing  short  of  miraculous.  Here  are 
scores  of  my  own  dear  friends,  similarly  situated, 
—  land  poor,  they  call  themselves,  —  yet,  as  I  can 
not  doubt  Carolina's  word  or  your  figures,  and 
you  both  assert  that  Guildford  has  paid  for  itself, 
each  and  every  one  of  them  might  restore  their 
property  in  a  similar  manner.  I  had  no  idea  of 
the  value  of  this  new  turpentine  company  of 
yours." 

"  Aren't  you  sorry  now,  Cousin  Fanshaw,"  said 
Carolina,  mischievously,  "  that  you  wouldn't  invest 
when  we  wanted  you  to?" 

Judge  Lee  cleared  his  throat  and  reddened 
slightly.  He  did  not  relish  being  jested  with. 

"  I  think  I  am,  Carolina,"  he  said.    "  God  knows 


CAROLINA  LEE  337 

I  needed  the  money,  but,  if  you  will  allow  me,  under 
the  circumstances  of  your  great  triumph,  to  be  un- 
gallant,  I  will  tell  you  that  I  did  not  have  any  faith 
in  a  woman's  head  for  business." 

"  Few  of  us  have,  I  think,"  said  Mr.  Howard, 
coming  to  his  rescue.  "  At  first,  I  did  not,  but 
Carolina  was  so  sure  that  I  began  it  as  an  experi 
ment  which  was  likely  to  cost  me  dear.  I  have 
ended  by  believing  in  it  with  all  my  heart." 

"  Of  course  I  have  had  a  great  deal  of  help," 
said  Carolina,  generously.  "  Mr.  La  Grange  is 
very  influential,  and  I  am  sure  I  could  not  have  got 
the  telephone  and  electric  light  without  him.  They 
were  carrying  lanterns  in  Enterprise  when  we  first 
came  down  here,  and  I  expected  to  have  to  get 
along  with  acetylene,  which  I  greatly  dislike.  But 
he  told  me  that  for  the  last  ten  years  the  subject 
of  electric  lighting  had  been  agitated,  and  that  he 
believed  a  little  new  blood  and  ready  money  would 
start  the  thing.  That  was  easily  managed,  but  the 
cost  of  bringing  the  wires  to  Guildford  was  greater 
than  I  expected.  However,  in  another  year  several 
other  estates  will  need  lighting,  and  I  shall  carry 
it  for  them  over  my  wires,  and  thus  reduce  my 
initial  expense  materially." 

"  Who  owns  the  control  in  the  electric  com 
pany  ?  "  asked  Judge  Lee. 

"  Why,    Carolina   does,   of   course ! "   said   Mr. 


338  CAROLINA  LEE 

Howard.  "  You  don't  suppose  my  little  Napoleon 
of  Finance  would  commit  such  an  error  of  judg 
ment  as  not  to  keep  that?  Nevertheless,  she  put 
up  the  poles  from  Enterprise  to  Guildford  at  her 
own  expense.  She  wouldn't  take  any  unfair  advan 
tage  of  her  control." 

Judge  Lee  glanced  at  his  cousin  in  half-way  dis 
approval.  He  greatly  disliked  a  woman  who  under 
stood  finance,  and  he  privately  considered  Carolina 
unsexed.  If  she  had  not  been  beautiful,  he  would 
have  said  so,  but  her  girlish  loveliness  saved 
her. 

Judge  Lee  looked  around.  On  every  side  familiar 
objects  met  his  eye.  It  was  the  same  Guildford 
of  his  ancestors,  yet  enlarged,  dignified,  engran- 
deured.  His  gaze  clung  affectionately  to  the  heavy, 
quaint  furnishings,  so  cunningly  reproduced  that 
they  might  well  pass  as  the  ancient  pieces  they  rep 
resented.  He  began  to  realize  the  enormous  amount 
of  hard  work  this  indicated,  —  of  the  hours  and 
days  of  unremitting  toil,  —  of  the  discouragements 
overcome,  —  the  obstacles  surmounted,  —  the  love 
this  mirrored. 

Finally  he  turned  to  Carolina,  with  his  keen  eyes 
softened. 

"  I  do  not  understand  how  you  accomplished  it, 
little  cousin.  It  is  a  marvellous  achievement  for 
any  one  I'* 


CAROLINA  LEE  339 

"  I  did  not  accomplish  it  of  myself,"  said  Caro 
lina,  gravely.  "  I  never  in  the  world  could  have 
done  it  if  —  " 

"If  what?" 

"  I  hear  that  it  annoys  you  even  to  hear  the 
words,"  said  Carolina.  "  Nevertheless,  I  must  tell 
you  that  the  whole  of  Guildford  is  a  demonstration 
of  Christian  Science." 

A  deep  silence  fell,  and  the  eyes  of  the  two  men 
met.  Judge  Lee's  fell  before  the  corroboration  he 
met  in  Mr.  Howard's.  A  sudden  softening  took 
place  in  his  heart. 

"  I  begin  to  believe  that  there  is  something  in 
this  thing,  after  all,"  he  said,  slowly. 

A  babel  of  voices  broke  in  upon  their  conversa 
tion  just  here,  as  the  guests  trooped  down  from 
their  rooms,  exclaiming  with  admiration  on  every 
hand.  Sherman  and  Addie  were  particularly  de 
lighted,  but  they  looked  at  Carolina  wonderingly, 
as  if  uncertain  whether  this  were  the  same  sister 
they  had  known  before. 

Carolina  bloomed  like  a  rose  under  all  the  ad 
miration  her  work  received,  but  she  was  too  busy 
to  drink  it  all  in.  She  had,  for  one  thing,  the  chil 
dren  to  amuse.  Emmeline  Yancey,  a  serious- 
browed  child  with  grave  eyes,  was  her  right  hand, 
and  to  Emmeline  and  Bob  Fitzhugh  she  confided 
her  plans.  Hardly  had  the  children  learned  of  the 


340  CAROLINA  LEE 

delights  in  store  for  them,  when  the  guests  began 
to  arrive. 

Then,  such  a  rushing  to  and  fro !  Such  a  calling 
for  servants!  Such  hurried  dressing!  Such  a 
gathering  up  of  children,  and  a  general  hastening 
of  duties  which  should  have  been  performed  before ! 

Introductions  to  the  few  who  had  not  met  before 
seemed  like  a  meeting  of  old  friends,  so  warm  was 
the  welcome  and  so  well  known  the  existing  friend 
ships. 

Carriage  after  carriage  rolled  up  the  drive  and 
deposited  Fitzhughs,  La  Granges,  Manigaults,  Prin- 
gles,  and  Yanceys,  until  Guildford  resembled  the 
palmiest  days  of  its  predecessors. 

Peachie  and  Sir  Hubert  Wemyss  and  Noel  and 
Kate  were  receiving  sub  rosa  congratulations,  and 
beaming  faces  were  everywhere.  Moultrie's  eyes 
followed  Carolina  wherever  she  was,  and  none  no 
ticed  it  more  jealously  than  a  slim,  blue-eyed  boy 
who  would  not  mingle  with  the  other  children,  even 
when  Emmeline  begged  him  to.  He  only  shook 
his  head,  and  continued  to  watch  his  divinity. 

Then  old  Israel,  who  had  been  a  rascally  boy 
in  the  days  of  Carolina's  grandfather,  flung  open 
the  doors  and  the  guests  trooped  out  to  the  dining- 
rot>m. 

Every  one  stood  and  exclaimed  with  delight  at 
the  sight  which  met  their  eyes.  The  majestic  din- 


CAROLINA  LEE  341 

ner-table  of  Guildford,  which  would  seat  forty, 
stood  in  the  centre  of  the  room,  flanked  by  side- 
tables  groaning  under  the  glorious  old  Lee  silver 
and  glass  and  china,  such  as  no  contemporaneous 
eye  had  seen,  but  so  often  had  those  gathered  here 
heard  its  beauty  described  that  it  seemed  a  familiar 
sight. 

The  children  had  a  table  to  themselves,  and  this 
was  set  across  one  end  of  the  room.  Emmeline 
was  to  be  the  mother  and  Bob  Fitzhugh  the  father, 
and  actually  carve  the  turkey. 

'"  He'll  spill  the  gravy  and  drop  the  turkey  on 
the  floor,  Carolina,"  cried  his  mother. 

"Let  him,"  said  Carolina.  "Who  cares?  But 
this  turkey  will  be  so  good  that  he  will  stay  on 
the  platter,  as  I  shall  bid  him,  and  Bob  shall  carve 
him,  and  Emmeline  shall  serve  the  plum  pudding !  " 

Shrieks  of  joy  went  up  from  the  children  at  this 
daring  announcement,  and  all  the  parents  were  made 
radiant  by  their  babies'  happiness. 

The  table  was  long  and  low,  with  chairs  to  match, 
and  the  children  saw  with  jealous  delight  that  it 
was  copied  exactly  from  the  big  table,  even  to  the 
bowls  of  flowers  and  pyramids  of  fruit.  They  even 
had  their  tiny  champagne  glasses,  in  which  'Polyte, 
who  was  their  butler,  poured  foaming  ginger  ale, 
so  that  they  could  join  in  the  toasts  which  Judge 
Fanshaw  Lee  proposed.  They  wriggled  with  an 


342  CAROLINA  LEE 

ecstasy  they  never  Ead  felt  before,  and  never,  never 
did  they  have  such  a  time  as  at  Cousin  Carolina's 
Thanksgiving  dinner  at  Guildford. 

The  climax  came  to  their  awe  when,  at  the  end 
of  everything,  Mr.  Howard  arose,  glass  in  hand, 
and  announced  —  what  everybody  knew  —  the  en 
gagement  of  his  daughter  Kate  and  Noel  St.  Quen- 
tin,  and  gave  them  his  blessing,  and  everybody  cried 
and  laughed  and  drank  their  health.  The  children's 
round  eyes  almost  popped  out  of  their  heads.  To 
be  present  at  a  real  betrothal!  It  was  more  excit 
ing  to  the  little  Southerners  than  a  negro  bap 
tism. 

Bob  Fitzhugh's  face  was  seen  to  grow  very  red, 
and  then  suddenly  he  pushed  back  his  chair  and 
strode  to  where  Carolina  sat,  and  said,  in  a  sturdy 
voice : 

"  Cousin  Carolina,  why  can't  we  announce  our 
engagement?  You  know  you  promised  to  marry 
me." 

He  stood  crimson  but  dauntless  under  the  shrieks 
of  laughter  which  followed  his  speech.  Carolina's 
face  was  very  rosy  also,  and  she  was  seen  to  steal  a 
mischievous  glance  at  Moultrie  La  Grange,  which 
somehow  set  his  heart  to  beating  with  hope. 

She  put  Eer  arm  around  Bob  and  kissed  him  on 
the  forehead  before  them  all. 

"  Bob,  dear,  it  is  too  soon,"  she  whispered,  con- 


CAROLINA  LEE  343 

solingly.  "  You  know  I  said  if  you  wanted  me 
in  ten  years  and  I  was  still  unmarried  —  " 

"  Oh,  but  Cousin  Carol !  "  cried  the  boy,  "  you 
are  so  beautiful  that  unless  you  promise  to  wait  for 
me  you  are  sure  to  be  snapped  up.  Father  said  so." 

An  added  wave  of  colour  flew  to  Carolina's  face, 
and  she  hid  her  face  in  the  boy's  shoulder,  when,  to 
her  surprise,  she  heard  the  voice  of  Col.  Wayne 
Yancey  saying: 

"  Bob,  my  boy,  if  she  should  promise  you,  you'd 
have  to  fight  me,  and  fight  me  to  the  death." 

Bob  looked  at  him,  and  stiffened. 

"  Are  you  after  her,  too  ?  "   he  cried,  angrily. 

"  I've  been  after  her  longer  than  you  have.  And 
I'm  not  the  only  one." 

Bob  turned  despairingly  to  his  father. 

"  How  many  does  that  make  ?  "  he  roared. 

The  laughter  of  tfie  grown  people  passed  un 
heeded. 

"  Never  mind,  son,"  said  his  father.  "  Colonel 
Yancey's  name  completes  the  list.  There  isn't  an 
other  bachelor  or  widower  left  in  South  Carolina. 
It's  just  the  way  the  girls  used  to  treat  me,  son, 
but  afterward  I  met  your  mother  and  she  made 
everything  all  right." 

The  boy  flew  to  his  father's  side,  and  hid  his 
head. 

"  Girls  are  all  alike,  son.    You'll  have  to  bear  it. 


344  CAROLINA  LEE 

We  all  have  to.  Turn  around  here  and  ask  your 
Uncle  De  Courcey  why  he  is  a  bachelor.  Ask  your 
mother  how  many  boys  she  flirted  with  before  I 
came  along.  Be  a  man.  Look  there  at  Emmeline 
and  Gladys  and  —  " 

Bob  burst  away  with  a  roar  of  pain. 

"  Emmeline  is  about  right  for  Teddy !  "  he  ex 
claimed,  in  wrath.  "  I  want  a  grown  woman.  I 
don't  want  anybody  but  Miss  Carolina  Lee.  Moul- 
trie  knows  how  it  is,  don't  you,  Moultrie?  When 
you've  once  loved  a  girl  like  Carolina,  how  would 
you  like  it  to  be  told  to  take  up  with  anybody 
else?" 

"  I  just  wouldn't  do  it,  that's  all ! "  said  Moul 
trie,  looking  squarely  at  Carolina. 

"  Bob,"  said  Carolina,  severely,  "  you  are  em 
barrassing  Mr.  La  Grange  and  me  dreadfully. 
Won't  you  please  go  back  to  your  place  and  make 
me  feel  that  I  can  depend  upon  you  to  protect  me 
instead  of  exposing  me  to  laughter  like  this  ?  " 

The  Boy's  eagle  glance  flew  from  one  convulsed 
face  to  another.  Then  he  showed  his  blood.  He 
came  to  Carolina's  side,  and  put  his  arms  around 
her  neck  and  kissed  her  cheek,  whispering: 

"  I'll  never  speak  of  it  again.  They  can  laugh 
if  they  want  to,  but  some  day  you'll  remember  that 
I  behaved  wEen  you  asked  me  to." 

He  went  back  to  his  seat  and  Carolina  looked  at 


CAROLINA  LEE  345 

Emmeline,  and  both  little  ladies  rose  from  the  heads 
of  their  tables  and  led  the  way  to  the  drawing-room. 

But  Carolina  was  uneasy.  She  could  not  forget 
the  look  that  Moultrie  La  Grange  shot  at  her,  when 
Bob  said,  "  After  you  have  once  loved  a  girl  like 
Carolina,  how  would  you  like  to  be  told  to  take  up 
with  anybody  else  ?  " 

She  knew  the  time  was  approaching  when  he 
would  ask  his  question  over  again,  and  she  was  not 
prepared  yet  to  give  an  answer.  She  was  sure  he 
was  on  the  right  track,  but  she  was  not  sure  that  he 
would  persevere. 

The  chill  of  autumn  always  manifests  itself  in 
November  days  in  South  Carolina  after  the  sun 
goes  down,  and  when  the  guests  repaired  to  the 
library,  they  found  a  great  log  fire,  the  size  of 
which  they  had  never  seen  before.  For  weeks  Caro 
lina's  servants  had  scoured  the  woods  for  a  back 
log  of  sufficient  girth  to  please  their  mistress,  but 
it  was  'Polyte  who  finally  secured  the  prize. 

Around  this  glorious  fire  they  all  gathered,  and 
something  of  the  way  Guilford  had  been  restored, 
as  well  as  the  gentle  tranquillity  of  the  twilight 
hour,  crept  into  their  hearts  and  tinged  the  conver 
sation  with  an  intimacy  which  years  of  ordinary 
social  intercourse  could  not  have  accomplished. 
Christian  Scientists  all  over  the  world  will  recognize 
this  as  a  fact  peculiar  to  themselves.  If  church- 


346  CAROLINA  LEE 

member  meets  church-member  of  any  other  denomi 
nation,  they  are  forced  to  become  acquainted  as  is 
usual  in  society,  because  there  is  no  unanimity  of 
^nought,  and  each  is  bound  for  his  or  her  particular 
goal  by  independent  and  widely  diverse  routes.  But 
in  Christian  Science  instantaneous  intimacies  are 
possible,  because  it  is  the  one  religion  which  requires 
comparative  unanimity  of  thought,  and  all  are  trav 
elling  in  the  identical  path  which  leads  to  the  ulti 
mate  perfection  of  harmony. 

Thus,  with  no  other  light  than  the  firelight  and 
with  no  further  introduction  to  the  dear  people  of 
the  Southland,  than  that  they  were  either  Chris 
tian  Scientists  or  Carolina's  beloved  kinfolk,  no  one 
was  surprised  when  Doctor  Colfax  said: 

"  You  showed  no  astonishment  this  morning, 
Miss  Carolina,  when  you  saw  me  among  the  guests 
Mr.  Howard  was  bringing  to  your  beautiful  house- 
warming.  And  as  I  know  the  type  of  your  mind,  I 
know  that  you  will  ask  no  questions.  Therefore,  I 
owe  it  to  you  to  tell  you,  and  believe  me,  I  am  de 
lighted  to  include  your  friends. 

"  You,  Mrs.  Winchester,  remember  meeting  me 
on  the  train  as  you  were  coming  from  Boston. 
You  thought  I  had  been  to  take  a  rest.  I  had.  But 
it  was  a  rest  in  a  hospital  from  an  operating-table. 
It  was  my  second  operation  for  cancer  of  the  throat. 
My  inexcusable  show  of  anger  at  your  house,  Mrs. 


CAROLINA  LEE  347 

Howard,  the  night  I  saw  the  miracle  of  Miss  Caro 
lina's  healing,  was  induced  and  aggravated  by  the 
knowledge  of  the  ordeal  before  me  and  of  the  futil 
ity  of  it.  My  brutal  words  against  Mrs.  Goddard, 
this  dear,  dear  woman,  whom  I  have  learned  to 
revere  and  love  as  my  best  friend,  were  uttered  be 
cause  I  longed  to  go  and  fling  myself  at  her  feet 
and  ask  her  if  she  could  cure  me.  If  any  of  you 
men  who  were  there  that  night  —  if  you,  St.  Quen- 
tin,  had  knocked  me  senseless  and  taken  my  uncon 
scious  body  to  a  Christian  Scientist  for  treatment, 
I  should  have  thanked  you  on  my  knees.  But  none 
of  you  knew. 

"  Well,  I  went  through  this  second  operation,  and 
it  proved  as  futile  as  the  first  had  done.  Within 
six  months  I  was  confronted  by  the  certainty  of  the 
third,  and  this  I  felt  sure  would  be  fatal. 

"  With  the  horrible  fear  of  death  before  my 
mental  vision,  and  no  faith  in  surgery,  I  one  day 
made  up  my  mind  to  call  on  Mrs.  Goddard,  to  tell 
her  the  ungentlemanly,  unmanly  words  I  had  used 
against  her  in  public,  to  beg  her  pardon,  and  if  she 
forgave  me,  to  implore  her  help  for  my  hideous 
malady. 

"  Dear  friends,  you,  who  know  her,  know  how 
she  received  me.  But  none  of  you  know  that  under 
her  treatment  I  was  entirely  cured.  Nor  does  she 
know  what  I  am  about  to  say,  for  only  since  I  came 


348  CAROLINA  LEE 

down  here  and  lived  among  you  and  saw  your 
beautiful  lives,  have  I  decided.  Mrs.  Goddard,  I 
owe  it  to  you  to  tell  you  first.  I  have  decided  to 
give  up  the  practice  of  materia  medica,  which  failed 
me  in  the  hour  of  my  greatest  need,  and  I  intend 
to  study  to  be  a  Christian  Science  practitioner." 

A  startled  murmur  ran  through  the  group.  Even 
with  all  their  faith,  this  came  as  a  surprise,  for  the 
name  of  Doctor  Col  fax  stood  for  so  much  in  the 
medical  world.  Few  men  would  have  dared  to  show 
so  much  moral  courage.  Only  Mrs.  Goddard  seemed 
to  understand,  for  she  reached  out  her  hand  to  him, 
and  he  bent  and  kissed  it  before  them  all. 

"  I  give  up !  "  cried  Colonel  Yancey,  to  relieve 
the  tension.  "  Cousin  Lois,  look  at  all  these  lovers 
holding  hands,  and  thinking  we  don't  see  them,  and 
say  whether  you  and  I  shall  be  left  out." 

"  Wayne  Yancey,"  said  Mrs.  Winchester,  "  I'm 
not  going  to  be  left  out  of  anything.  I  have  come 
to  the  point  where  I  don't  believe  in  the  Church  of 
England  the  way  I  did,  and,  if  I  decide  to  become 
a  Christian  Scientist,  there  is  no  telling  but  that  I 
may  forget  what  a  rascal  you  used  to  be  in  what 
they  call  '  the  old  thought '  and  decide  to  marry 
you  in  the  new !  " 

Thus  Guilford  began  at  once  to  take  her  proper 
place  as  the  mystic  spot  where  lovers'  vows  were 
plighted  almost  before  they  knew  it,  so  replete  it 


CAROLINA  LEE  349 

was  with  all  that  goes  to  make  a  home,  and,  as  the 
dancing  flames  died  down,  Carolina  felt  a  soft  hand 
steal  into  hers,  and  looked  down  into  the  wide  eyes 
of  her  niece,  little  Cynthia  Lee. 

"  What  is  it,  darling?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  feel,"  whispered  the  child,  "  that  strange 
things  are  going  to  happen  at  Guild  ford,  and  that 
you  and  I  shall  always  be  in  the  midst  of  them !  " 

Carolina,  instinctively  realizing  that  this  was  a 
psychic  moment  for  the  imaginative  child,  slipped 
her  arm  around  Cynthia's  delicate  waist,  saying: 

"Why  do  you  feel  it,  Cynthia?" 

"  Listen,  Aunt  Carolina.  Something  of  all  the 
queerness  I  have  heard  since  I  came  down  here 
makes  me  feel  that  I  shall  lead  a  stormy  life,  and 
that  I  shall  need  this  thing  and  want  it  and  be  un 
able  to  accept  it  until  I  am  beaten  by  everything 
else.  Do  you  understand  me?  " 

"  Only  too  well,"  sighed  Carolina. 

"  Then  I  shall  want  you,  and  want  you  terribly." 

"  I  shall  always  be  here,  dearest." 

"  That  is  what  comforts  me,"  said  the  child,  the 
mystic  light  dying  out  of  her  eyes.  "  It  is  what 
comforts  me  about  the  whole  thing.  I  know  it  will 
always  be  there  when  I  want  it.  I  have  talked  to 
Emmeline  about  it.  Even  little  Gladys  taught  me 
her  hymn." 

And  the  child  and  the  woman  looked  into  each 


350  CAROLINA  LEE 

other's  eyes,  knowing  that  their  souls  were  akin, 
and  that  the  witchery  of  the  twilight  hour  had 
opened  floodgates  closed  by  day,  but  which  opened 
when  the  soul  felt  the  need  of  speech. 

"  I  am  glad  you  told  me,  Cynthia,"  said  Carolina. 
"  The  only  answer  to  all  of  life's  puzzles,  I  have 
found  in  this  awakened  sense  of  mine,  which  will 
surely  come  to  you  some  day.  Remember  it  when 
the  waters  grow  too  deep." 

"  The  answer  to  all  life's  puzzles,"  echoed  Cyn 
thia. 

"  Sing,  child,"  said  Carolina. 

And  Cynthia,  whose  voice  was  like  the  rippling 
water  and  the  sounding  of  silver  bells,  began  to  sing 
what  Gladys  called  her  hymn: 

" '  And  o'er  earth's  troubled,  angry  sea 

I  see  Christ  walk, 
And  come  to  me  and  tenderly, 
Divinely  talk  ! » " 

As  the  child  sang,  every  feeling  in  every  heart 
melted,  until  only  love  remained,  and,  when  she 
finished,  Kate  cried  out: 

"  It's  all  over !  I  d-don't  hate  Mrs.  Eddy  any 
more.  I  —  I've  been  healed  of  it  by  Cynthia's 
singing." 

The  child's  lovely  voice  had  so  sadly  shaken 
Carolina's  composure  that,  under  cover  of  the  half- 


CAROLINA  LEE  351 

darkness,  she  rose  and  made  her  way  quietly  to  a 
little  hall  which  led  to  a  private  staircase,  intending 
to  gain  her  own-  room  and  recover  herself  before 
her  guests  began  to  take  leave. 

As  the  voices  rose  and  fell,  she  moved  nearer  and 
nearer  the  door,  too  intent  upon  her  own  ends  to 
notice  that  Moultrie  La  Grange  had  likewise  de 
tached  himself  from  the  fireside  group  and  disap 
peared. 

As  she  finally  stepped  behind  a  group  of  palms 
which  concealed  the  door,  she  sprang  lightly  into 
the  dark  passage  and  flung  herself  headlong  into  the 
arms  of  Moultrie  La  Grange,  who  had  come  in  that 
way  to  intercept  her  flight. 

He  was  not  slow  to  take  advantage  of  the  very 
opportunity  he  had  come  to  seek,  and,  after  one 
brief  struggle,  so  slight  that  it  was  like  the  flutter 
ing  of  a  bird,  she  hid  her  face  in  his  shoulder,  with 
a  little  sob  in  which  relief  and  joy  and  love  were 
mingled. 

He  said  nothing,  only  held  her  close  and  kissed 
her  hair,  until  her  arms  stole  upward  and  curled 
around  his  neck,  and  she  whispered: 

"  Moultrie,  dear,  dear  Moultrie,  will  you  forgive 
me  for  what  I  said  to  you  that  day?  " 

"  I  have  nothing  to  forgive,  dear  heart.  You 
only  said  it  because  you  loved  me." 


352  CAROLINA  LEE 

Tears  filled  her  eyes,  and  she  drew  closer  to  him, 
whispering : 

"  I  knew  that  first  night  in  New  York  at  the 
opera  —  that  this  hour  would  come  —  and  just  now, 
while  Cynthia  was  singing,  I  knew  that  —  you 
would  understand  —  everything!  " 

"  I  would  not  have  dared  to  speak  to  you  again, 
dearest,"  he  answered,  "  if  I  had  not  emptied  my 
soul  of  self  and  got  rid  of  that  which  separated  us. 
But  —  I  have  been  working  since  you  showed  me 
where  I  stood  with  you,  and  I,  too,  under  the  spell 
of  that  child's  voice,  have  come  to  the  point  where 
I  can  say  that,  if  you  think  I  am  capable  of  it,  — 
and  worthy  to  be  the  successor  of  such  a  man  as 
your  idolized  father,  —  I  would  be  proud  to  com 
plete  his  work  on  Abraham  Lincoln,  and,  with  your 
consent,  we  will  call  it  '  The  Debt  of  the  South 
to  Lincoln.'  " 

For  reply,  Carolina  lifted  his  hand  to  her  lips 
and  kissed  it.  She  could  make  no  reply  to  such  a 
surrender  as  that,  but  in  that  hour  she  lifted  her 
hero  to  a  pinnacle,  whence  he  never  was  dislodged. 


THE  END. 


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